On Friday 17 April an exclusion zone involving road closures was put in place around the Evolution Cove block in Durnford Street, Stonehouse, due to concerns about the structural integrity of the building. the 27-metre exclusion zone around the residential block was a necessary precaution to protect the public due to a risk that the building – or part of it – could collapse. Some residents in properties in Emma Street Ope were encouraged to temporarily vacate their properties and stay with family or friends or if they had nowhere to go, offered hotel accommodation. The following roads and pavements were closed:
- Emma Place Ope
- A section of Emma Place
- A section of Barrack Place
- A section of Durnford Street
This exclusion zone was instigated after Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service issued a prohibition notice on Evolution Cove. This is a legal notice that restricts the use of a building where there are serious safety concerns. The notice remains in place until those concerns are addressed.
Bus services will return to the Royal William Yard on the Stonehouse Peninsula from this Saturday 2nd May 2026 – in time for the popular monthly good food and craft market. Plymouth City Council is to subsidise a shuttlebus, the 34A, that will serve all stops along Union Street between the Octagon and Stonehouse Roundabout – the stops that are currently used by the service 34. The 34A will then continue to Royal William Yard via the signposted diversions.
Plymouth Citybus will deploy a 24-seater, fully accessible shuttle bus to run every 30 minutes from 7am to 7pm seven days a week. The 34A will pick up passengers who would normally use Service 34 to reach Durnford Street, Royal Willam Yard and Cremyll Ferry. The 34 will continue to operate from the City Centre to Derriford via Duke of Cornwall, Martin Street, Union Street and returning to its normal route through Devonport to Torpoint Ferry, Stoke, Milehouse and Crownhill.
Glenn Caplin-Grey, Strategic Director for Growth said: “We know that this is a lifeline for many elderly and more vulnerable residents on the Stonehouse peninsula who rely on the bus, so we were keen to bring some form of public transport back as soon as possible.
The 34 is a popular and busy service which normally uses a double decker. Given the bus’s size, Citybus have been unable to use the road diversions that were put in place as a result of emergency road closures around Evolution Cove from 17 April. Test runs took place on Tuesday to ensure that the bus to be used – which measures just under nine metres and is the smallest vehicle in the fleet – could negotiate the diversion route. The Council has agreed to fund the temporary service for an initial six weeks at a cost of £28,000 to minimise disruption to bus passengers to Stonehouse peninsula and Royal William Yard. Two temporary bus stops have also been put up in Martin Street for the 34 service to serve Millbay Academy School.
Our highways team continue to have a presence on site and more adjustments have been made to the traffic signal arrangements. This has now been set up as a two-way system, which should further reduce waiting time. This revised set up will be monitored over the next few days and we have committed to having operatives on site across the Bank Holiday weekend, so that manual intervention of the signals can be made if congestion builds up.
Thanks to Mark Bailey for the photo of 2017 at The Royal William Yard taken on the first day of operation. It does look like quite a tight squeeze in places along the diverted route so might be worth a trip to try out this short route.
