Disappointed councillors have questioned whether it is time their town leaves the national park after controversial plans to knock down a bus station to make way for flats were approved.

Green councillors from Lewes said they were horrified that Lewes Bus Station will now be demolished and replaced with 35 new homes after the South Downs National Park Authority gave the scheme the go-ahead on Thursday.

The station, in Eastgate Street, has been closed for more than a year and East Sussex County Council will provide alternative bus facilities.

These will include two bus stops with shelters and real-time passenger information on the southern side of The Causeway.

And there will be a further three bus stops, with shelters, real-time information, a kiosk and toilet facilities, on the northern side of The Causeway.

But councillors say the new provision could be dangerous and that the community has been let down.

“This is the third time The Generator Group has put forward an application for housing on this site,” said Green East Sussex county councillor Wendy Maples.

“And now they finally have their way. The national park has missed a golden opportunity to reject this over-development and to support the bus station.

“Instead, it has voted in favour of a dangerous bus interchange alternative on either side of a busy road outside of the town centre. It is a desperately sad day for the future of Lewes.”

Lewes Town Council was among the objectors to the proposals.

Green town councillor Adrian Ross said: “The story of how we are having to fight to keep our bus station in the heart of the largest town in any national park in England is a catalogue of failings; from the government privatising bus services to the newly private services selling off the land, to the national park failing to have policy in place to protect the bus station and to East Sussex County Council failing to plan for a real alternative or secure the existing site as part of its local transport plan.

“We have been let down throughout and we have been let down again.”

County councillor Johnny Denis said councillors have been calling for the “much supported” bus station to be brought back to public use and for the county council to put it at the forefront of its transport plans.

“Instead, they have enabled a developer to do the wrong thing for Lewes,” he said.

Green town councillor Matthew Bird said the decision was “more than disappointing” and questioned whether it was time for Lewes to leave the national park.

“It’s clear being part of the park doesn’t benefit the county town and that the park doesn’t value Lewes,” he said.

“Perhaps it’s time for Lewes to leave the park.”

Mike Hughes, interim planning director of the South Downs National Park Authority, said following the planning meeting: “This is a planning application that has attracted a great deal of public interest and understandably so, given its strategic position in thriving and historic Lewes.

“It’s a complex application for a key brownfield site that has been allocated for development for over a decade, including most recently in the South Downs Local Plan.

“We understand bus services and good infrastructure are a priority for local people and that’s why there is a very detailed and robust legal agreement attached to the planning permission, with a substantial financial contribution to help deliver the high-quality and safe bus infrastructure the town needs.

“Together with the Phoenix, this development will make use of a brownfield site, delivering much-needed housing and commercial opportunities for the town and local communities.”