Revamp plans for Weymouth rail station have been officially submitted to Dorset Council and are now open for public comments.

The £600,000 Weymouth Station Gateway plan would see the station forecourt reconfigured, changes to car parking and flow of traffic, as well as the creation of a ‘pocket park’ linking King Street and the Jubilee Retail Park.

The project also includes new sustainable transport links for bus passengers and cyclists, and improvements to pedestrianisation.

Comments on the proposal - submitted by Dorset Coast Forum - remain open until the end of April.

The plans have been submitted following a public consultation which revealed overwhelming support for the work.

But Weymouth Civic Society has said it has ‘serious reservations’ about the planned changes to the forecourt and car park.

The society said: “Of the seven main aims noted in the design and access statement, only the ‘Pocket Park’ can be seen to be satisfactorily realised and this is physically separate from the station area and relieves none of its problems. We believe significant improvement is unlikely to be achieved with the current traffic layout of King Street.

“The key aim of the creation of an effective transport interchange to encourage more use of public transport is virtually ignored."

It says that with just a single bus bay proposed, the problem of creating an interchange between the station and major bus routes has not been addressed.

But the society does welcome an increase to 10 ‘dropping off’ spaces for cars although it says the new layout overall may result in some difficult manoeuvring for drivers. It also welcomes a shared walkway and cycle way along the redundant rail line.

Chairman of the society’s planning and environment committee, Pauline Crump, says the proposed landscaping is also disappointing: “The present maturing trees around the perimeter of the forecourt define the space. Their replacements along the road line closer to the station buildings leaves an indeterminate space broken by ‘random boulders’ and what seem to be haphazard low walls enclosing patches of grass. It is easy to see even greater problems with litter and graffiti developing than exist at present,” she said in response to the planning documents.

Dorset Coast Forum has secured grant funding for the project. It says there will be an increase of one parking space, bringing the total to 51, but that traffic flows will be improved with a new layout and that disabled parking will also be improved.

“New LED lighting, more information and more accessible signage should assist transit through the station forecourt and the approaches via Pocket Park for other users with physical, mental, sensory and progressive conditions. ... The pedestrian access within the station forecourt will be designed to be safer with visible designated tactile crossings to avoid conflict with vehicle movements. The new and improved pedestrian access should assist persons with pushchairs, prams or buggies to transit through the station in a more efficient and safer way. This should make it safer for persons travelling alone or at night,” said the project’s design and access statement.”