Search continues for possible 'better' sites for commercial electric vehicles hub in Peterborough

A search for suitable sites is under way to create a multi-million pound commercial electric vehicle depot that can be used by an array of organisations in Peterborough.

The move comes even though the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has confirmed that a Peterborough City Council-owned site at Nursery Lane in Fengate will be considered for a new electric bus hub.

Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, leader of the city council, said: “The options agreement with the Combined Authority on the land at Nursery Lane does allow us time to fully assess alternative sites and for us to widen the net and to fully consider if there are better sites.

He said: “We want to create a commercial electric vehicle hub that can be used not just by Stagecoach and other bus operators but by other agencies that will use electric vehicles, for instance the NHS.

Cllr Fitzgerald added: "There has to be plenty of space for workshops premises, electric charging points, overnight parking capacity and more.”

Just three months ago, it was announced that the Government had awarded £4 million towards the costs of relocating Peterborough’s existing bus depot in Lincoln Road, which is hemmed in by residents’ gardens and a retail area and that means the 100-year-old site does not have space for expansion to meet the needs of an era of electric-powered vehicles.

Plans to move the bus depot were outlined several years ago but the cost and the difficulties of finding a new site have hindered progress.