£7.5m project developing sustainable depot in Grimsby

Contractors are set to start the latest round of demolition as part of a £7.5 million project to overhaul North East Lincolnshire Council’s Doughty Road depot.

Work at the Grimsby town centre site started in January this year and will see the depot transformed into a sustainable worksite as part of the Council’s drive to tackle climate change.

Sustainable innovations that the Council and its regeneration partner Equans include are planning for the new depot include:

• Rain water harvesting for jet wash and lorry wash
• Solar panels with battery storage
• Air source/ground source heat pumps for heating offices and welfare facilities
• Electric vehicle charging points on most parking spaces with solar canopies overhead
• Large cycle store to support more staff who want to bike to work
• Landscaping including trees and green areas to improve air quality and support biodiversity.

North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) aims to be carbon Net Zero by 2040 and adopted an action plan in December last year to reach the ambitious goal.

The Carbon Roadmap sets out the Council’s aims to cut its carbon emissions to net zero by 2040 and for North East Lincolnshire to be carbon Net Zero by 2050. Net Zero means reducing carbon emissions as much as possible and balancing the remainder through investing in programmes that increase carbon storage, such as planting more trees or artificial storage solutions.

The depot transformation follows other energy-saving improvements such as introducing more electric vehicles to the Council’s fleet and upgrades to council-owned buildings.

Cllr Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for Environment and Transport at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “As a council, we’re investing millions-of-pounds in ambitious plans to give Grimsby town centre a fresh start.

“Combining our depots on one site will bring more of our staff into town and support the local economy. Once complete, we will have about 300 employees at the site.

“The redevelopment improves the energy efficiency of our buildings, provides better facilities for staff who choose to cycle to work and helps us move toward a zero-emissions vehicle fleet as part of our action plan to tackle climate change.

“It will also reduce our property maintenance costs and provide good quality facilities for the workforce.”

Overnight demolition details

An aerial view of the depot buildings set to be demolished. | Photo: NELC

The next phase of demolition at the Doughty Road depot starts on Monday 17 October. The row of buildings earmarked for demolition are next to the railway line and the Council can’t work on them while the line is in use.

Network Rail is closing the railway line between 12:15am and 5am for five nights from Monday 17 to Friday 21 October. Contractors will demolish the buildings during the hours when the line is closed.

They will work hard to keep disruption to a minimum but there could be some noise from the site while the works take place. The Council has written to more than 90 households near the site to let them know about the work and to apologise in advance for any inconvenience it may cause.

In addition to the energy-saving innovations at the new depot, the Council and Equans are working closely with contractors to reduce the environmental impact of the demolition and construction works.

One way this is happening is by recycling materials from the demolished buildings. Contractors crush demolition waste such as concrete and brick on the site and used it as hardcore in the foundations of the new access road.

As well as reusing the materials, this also helps reduce the need for lorries to transport the rubble off site. Materials such as timber and metal from the demolished buildings are also recycled.

Depot transformation

A before and after of Peaks Parkway on January and May 2022. | Photo: NELC

NELC and its regeneration partner Equans are combining all their depot services in Doughty Road to update the facilities and bring more of their workers into the town centre. This means changing the site layout, demolishing some of the existing buildings and constructing some new buildings to create a functional, modern depot.

They currently have two depots for operational services. One site is in Gilbey Road, the other is in Doughty Road.  These sites are for services such as waste and recycling, highway maintenance, fleet management, street cleansing, security, civil enforcement, property maintenance, licensing, grounds maintenance and ecology.

The depot remains active while the works are carried out with areas secured and fenced off during the different construction phases. The full refurbishment is due for completion in 2023.

Plenty of work took place between February and March 2022. | Photo: NELC