A COUPLE who spent nearly 35 years building up their car sales business in Llandrindod Wells have said they are “delighted” with the plans for a bus interchange at the site.

Eric Evans, 71, and his wife Ann ran the Eric Evans Ltd car sales business from a site in Station Crescent from January 1985 until Eric decided to take retirement earlier this year.

They sold the business to Powys County Council who last week announced plans to demolish the garage to create a parking area for a bus interchange close to the railway station in Llandrindod.

Mrs Evans, 68, said: “I’m delighted for the plans for the bus interchange – it’s what the town needs. We had a tremendous time building up the car business and obviously it will be sad to see the building demolished but nothing lasts forever.”

Mrs Evans said she was disappointed to see a report in the Brecon & Radnor Express in which a county councillor was quoted as saying there had been no other offers to buy her husband’s business and there were fears the building would become derelict.

Mrs Evans said: “It upset me reading that because it implies no one apart from Powys council was interested in buying the site, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

“We had several offers for the site but felt Powys’s was the best one. We put our heart and soul into that business. We built it up from scratch and took on a big loan. We were very proud of what we achieved.

“I can remember we took out a big loan from the bank and had to put down a deposit of £500 to start the business. Then we added a showroom and we became a Vauxhall dealer in 1992. We even managed to survive two difficult recessions.”

Mrs Evans said she remembers painting the old railway shed where the business was established shortly after they bought it. She said: “I can remember decorating the whole of that garage in one weekend.

“I had to climb a ladder and I’m terrified of heights. I gave up my job to do it and we had two young children when we started out so it was always a struggle but we nurtured it into something we were very proud of.

“To hear it suggested we had no interest from anyone wanting to take it over and that it could become derelict was very upsetting.”

Cllr Jon Williams, Powys county councillor for Llandrindod Wells, said the showroom that Powys council had bought from Mr and Mrs Evans would sadly be demolished and parking created to enable a bus interchange to be built near the railway station.

He said: “Basically it (demolishing the showroom) will allow the council to do a land swap with the Powys Health Board.

“The site (where Eric Evans Ltd was) will become parking for the health board and the bus interchange will be built next to the railway station. When I spoke at the planning meeting I think I said there had been little interest in the business being taken over because that’s what I’d been told locally.

“However I appreciate how hard Mr and Mrs Evans worked in building up that business and can understand why they might be a bit upset to see it suggested that there was no interest whatsoever in the business when it was bought by Powys council.

“I think the bus interchange will be a big asset to the town. People arriving by train will be able to switch to the buses there. There will be parking for cars as well as cycle parking and it will be a great transport hub for the town.”