It seems West Suffolk Council has given in to the thugs. Apparently there is an issue with fighting, anti-social behaviour, shoplifting and criminal damage at the waiting room at the Bury St Edmunds bus station.

The police are carrying out regular patrols of the area and have issued dispersal orders. West Suffolk Council’s CCTV room has provided evidence and alerted police to incidents.

So I was surprised to receive an email from the Cabinet Member responsible informing me that he has decided to close the waiting room from November 1st. He believes West Suffolk Council cannot guarantee the safety of anyone using the waiting room.

This waiting room is necessary. It keeps visitors to our district and those from the surrounding villages sheltered when the visit Bury St Edmunds. We are trying to get more people to use the buses not make the experience more unpleasant.

This shelter was never needed more so than today. Standing in the freezing cold with rain pouring down the neck is not the experience we would want for anyone.

Shutting the waiting room is dealing with the problem the wrong way round. It is the thugs that need targeting and disrupting not the visiting population. If we are not able to deal with a few louts then things are much more serious than I thought.

This decision has been taken unilaterally by the Cabinet member of the Labour led coalition. In the past all local elected members have been consulted to see if another solution can be found. This decision has ignored the local people and local elected members.

We must put the people first and centre in our thinking. Shutting a valuable service without consultation is just not good enough.

I have asked the Cabinet member to reconsider his decision.