A DRAFT masterplan for the future of Walthamstow which proposed that its bus station should be demolished cost nearly £36,000 to produce, it has emerged.

A team of consultants and architects were hired to come up with suggestions to help the council guide its planning policy over the coming years.

Among the proposals is the suggestion that the Mall shopping centre should be extended into the town square and that six to eight storey buildings should be built on the Arcade site.

A team of companies including urban designers Maccreanor Lavington, architecture firm Gort Scott and Drivers Jonas Deloitte have spent the last few months drawing up the proposals with Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association.

That group wants to build a housing and leisure development on the Arcade site in Hoe Street.

Following a request from the Guardian over the cost of the project, a council spokesman said: "The work to date on the two public consultation and stakeholder engagements and the submission of the draft Town Centre Masterplan has cost the council £35,982."

The plans may be tweaked further depending on the outcome of a public consultation, but have been met with a mixed response.

Caramel Quin, of the Cleveland Park Residents Association, said: “Most of it is quite common sense ideas that we’d like to see implemented, such as reducing street clutter and opening up the space where the High Street meets Hoe Street, but we do have concerns about some parts.

"The question is whether there’s actually money for any of this.

“There’s talk about expanding the Mall into the town square gardens area and that in future new public space could be created to make up for it, but it could end up being a land grab for the Mall.

“The idea about removing the bus station seems a bit pie in the sky but it seems like they only intend it to be a very long-term thing.

“But overall I think most residents would rather the council actually got on and did something.”

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