Shrewsbury bar launches new 'Panic at the Bus Stop' beer to poke fun at gyratory scheme
A bar near Shrewsbury railway station has added some light-hearted humour to the chaos caused by the town's gyratory scheme with a new beer.
The Tap and Can has launched a beer called Panic at the Bus Stop – poking fun at the controversial “floating bus stop” in the single vehicular lane under the railway bridge.
Sharing the news on its Facebook page, the bar in Castle Gates said that Shropshire Council “built a bus stop in the middle of chaos, whereas we built a beer about it”.
It added that the 4.6 per cent hazy pale is “juicy, tasty and controversial only in how fast it’ll sell out”.
“We expect this to sell a lot faster than the traffic… so come and get a taste of the drama,” reads the post.
“It’s so topical and is what everyone talks about when they come in,” said Andrew Hooper, who runs the bar alongside his wife Rachael.
“We wanted to make a light-hearted joke about it, but didn’t want to complain about anyone in particular and didn’t want to seem like we were being malicious.
“We’ve got quite a few cans and quite a few kegs, so it should take us into the whole of the week and into next week.
“We sold 30-odd cans yesterday – it seems to be a hit with the regulars. People have had a general laugh about it, and said the beer is really nice too.”
Earlier this week a task and finish group released its report into the chaotic implementation of the scheme.
Featuring seven members and led by the chair of Shropshire Council’s economy and environment overview and scrutiny committee, Councillor Ed Potter, the group was tasked to examine the project around the railway station.
On November 24, members heard from several witnesses, including representatives from Shropshire Council, WSP, The Buttermarket (a nearby nightclub), Shrewsbury BID, the Big Town Plan Partnership, and the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service. However, they concluded that the project was a large bid based upon a concept “without early enough change control, governance, evaluation and consultation”.
In total, the task and finish group made 10 recommendations, which the council’s cabinet agreed to when it met on Wednesday (December 3).
However, discussing the report at the meeting, Councillor Rob Wilson, portfolio holder for transport and economic growth, warned that fixing the scheme “is not that simple”.
“We do need to have that bus stop for park-and-ride and the bus community north of Shrewsbury, but we do need to resolve the problems that have been highlighted.” said Councillor Wilson.
“I find it especially frustrating that we weren’t all aware of the problems with the width of that bus stop.”
Mr Hooper said the issues around the gyratory have caused a lot of inconvenience for his business, with some people having to cancel bookings.
“There has been a lot of talk about lack of pre-consultation with local businesses,” said Mr Hooper.
“It seems a lot of different departments were doing stuff, but there was poor communication.”
Some of the issues were caused by the traffic light system being out of sequence. However, earlier this week, the council confirmed that it had been resolved, resulting in better traffic flow.
“I think it has improved at times, but at peak periods I still see emergency services with their sirens on stuck in traffic,” said Mr Hooper.
“I spoke to a fireman who said they just have to sit there and wait.”
