Plans unveiled for vintage bus museum in Great Yeldham

The proposal outlines the demolition of two buildings and construction of two new ones, to be used as a vintage bus museum on Poole Farm in Great Yeldham.

The site is made up of several agricultural-style buildings on the eastern side of Poole Road.

The site was home to the Poole Farm Feed Centre, which closed last year.

A planning statement says the applicant recently sold their bus company, but not their vintage collection of buses, which range from 1932 to 1988, and are mainly double-deckers.

Two buildings require demolition and a number of horseboxes would be removed from the site.

Once the site is cleared, two news structures would be built, which would be a home for the buses and coaches.

One will display buses and the other will contain vehicles awaiting restoration.

An existing building will be used for vehicle maintenance, and the reception and shop areas will remain, with one bus being converted into a café.

The museum would be in Great Yeldham (Image: Robin Webster)

There will be around 60 buses on site, with about 40 in the main display hall and others in the maintenance and restoration areas.

An area of land would be dedicated to visitor parking on the northern side of the site, with six to eight full-time full-time employees at the museum.

The main opening hours would be weekends only from 10am to 4pm, with a later opening of 5pm in the summer.

During the week, the museum may open to schools for educational visits.

There will also be a vintage bus service linking the nearby Colne Valley Railway, the USAF Ridgewell Memorial Museum and various villages on the way to Long Melford.

The service will operate every 30 minutes between May and October.

The numbers of visitors is expected to be between 150 and 200 a day, according to the plans.

The planning application says the museum will have social and economic benefits.

Braintree Council will rule on the plans.