Lincoln council set to agree further £500k investment in transport hub

Leading city councillors will consider investing an additional £538,000 to help with the progression of the Lincoln Transport Hub.

As previously reported, the £29 million scheme includes demolishing the existing bus station to build a larger facility next to the train station, replacing the pedestrian and platform footbridges over the railway with a dual function footbridge, and constructing a 1,000 space multi-storey car park.

The next stages of development to be debated by the Executive on September 28 include consideration of an additional £538,000 capital budget to support the scheme and the submission of the required business cases to the Department for Transport (DfT) to secure a Single Local Growth Fund grant of £11 million.

The council’s Executive will also discuss how to use Compulsory Purchase Orders to acquire land and rights to deliver the hub, and agree on the best way to operate the bus station and car park.

Plans for the hub were revealed in January 2015, with construction company Willmott Dixon appointed to deliver the project the following month.

In May 2015, the Executive agreed on an additional £858,000 of capital funds to develop the scheme, bringing the council’s total investment in the project to £2.1 million.

A planning application was submitted in June along with the first artists’ impressions for the project. The application is set to be considered by the council’s Planning Committee on October 21 this year.

A full financial report covering the costs and the funding, alongside the implications of these, will be presented to Executive in November 2015.

Work on the hub could potentially begin from January next year.

Kate Ellis, Assistant Director for Planning and Regeneration at the city council, said: “The Lincoln Transport Hub project will improve the experience people have when they visit the city using public transport or coming into the centre by car by providing a much-needed pay-on-exit, 964-space multi-storey car park, a new bus station and a more accessible train station.

“By having cycling, bus and train facilities with safe pedestrian links, it will also encourage use of alternative and sustainable modes of transport.

“It is an important regeneration project for the city and will also encourage active travel as well as tackling air quality and noise problems.”