Marylebone residents complain coach stop has 'desecrated' historic garden square

Conservation area: residents say the stop at Dorset Square brings noise and pollution
Nigel Howard
Isobel Frodsham11 October 2018

A historic garden square that was the original home of Lord’s cricket ground has been “desecrated” by the arrival of an airport bus stop, residents say.

They claim noise, pollution and passengers have shattered the tranquility of Marylebone’s Dorset Square, a leafy enclave of Georgian townhouses which sell for upwards of £3 million.

Dozens of buses for Stansted and the Midlands pull up and wait at its eastern edge every day, with travellers boarding coach services that run through the night.

Dr Allie Gillams, chair of the square’s conservation group, said: “The coaches have large diesel engines and sit there for 10 or 15 minutes idling. I’ve asked them to turn their engines off and they’ve refused. We’re getting a very heavy dose of nitrous oxide pollution.”

The stop, used by National Express and Airport Bus Express, opened three months ago. It had been 200ft away in Gloucester Place but was moved as part of a Transport for London and Westminster council plan to improve traffic flow.

Dr Gillams said: “The noise has been intrusive. People arrive in good time and hang around. There’s nowhere to sit or buy food or drink, no toilets. Some bring sleeping bags to sleep on the streets … If they need to use the bathroom they urinate through the railings.”

George Grossmith, co-author of The Diary Of A Nobody, and Dodie Smith, who wrote The Hundred And One Dalmatians and I Capture The Castle, lived in the Square. Thomas Lord set up his first cricket ground here in 1787, before it moved to St John’s Wood.

Resident Ian Burnstock said the square was a “London gem, ostensibly protected and listed as Dorset Square Conservation Area. This listing would appear to have been ignored.” Ben Plowden, TfL’s director of strategy and network development, said: “We have raised residents’ concerns with coach operators and will work with Westminster council to reduce the impact.”

Westminster said: “Rubbish disposal facilities have been extended, and in late October alterations will be undertaken to the stop layout. We will work with TfL on ... a larger bus shelter to act as a sound barrier.” National Express said it would investigate claims about idling engines and road access. Airport Bus Express was contacted for comment.

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