October 13, 2021 8.29 am This story is over 29 months old

New Grimsby bus station location in £40m ‘Bus Back Better’ plans

It’s part of almost £40m of bus improvements in the town
| Photo: File / The Lincolnite

The proposed new Grimsby bus station will not be located at the Riverhead if it returns to the town centre.

The hub is on a wider wishlist for North East Lincolnshire’s bus services, which also include ‘park and ride’ and more regular services.

A blueprint bid sets out £39 million of improvements over five years if the government fully funds it.

The return of a town bus station is the most expensive item at £10 million.

A site has not been chosen yet, but the location of the previous station at Riverhead Square has been ruled out due to planned regeneration schemes.

Stagecoach is “100 per cent” behind the plan, should it be funded, a special meeting of North East Lincolnshire Council’s Economy Scrutiny Panel heard.

The proposal would see the bus company provide more frequent evening and weekend buses, which would support the night-time economy.

Councillors were encouraged to adopt the plan to take advantage of government Bus Back Better funding.

Portfolio holder for Environment and Transport Councillor Stewart Swinburn said: “This is clearly an ambitious plan for North East Lincolnshire. We saw how bus usage dropped to a tiny fraction of what it usually is during Covid, and without intervention, usage during the recovery will plateau.

“The Department for Transport is looking to fund ambitious plans. Maintaining the status quo is not an option.”

A feasibility study of a park and ride system would be carried out under the plan, although councillors had mixed responses.

Councillor Hayden Dawkins said: “I am not sure if a park and ride system will ever work in this town – but one occasion it would be useful for is football.

“If we keep on our current trajectory, I would be happy to see it cater to our matches in the Premier League in three or four seasons.”

Councillors were told that additional CCTV may be considered for bus stops as part of the plan.

Questions were also raised over the current shortage of bus drivers which is causing the cancellation of services across North East Lincolnshire.

A council officer said that Stagecoach were working hard to recruit them.

“A lot of the current problems are recruitment and getting the DVLA to approve licenses. There is a big backlog [at the DVLA], but we’re looking at options to resolve it as quickly as we can,” he said.

Government cash for the programme will be allocated from April 2022.

The plan was approved unanimously by the meeting, and will go before Cabinet later this month.