Campaign to secure electric bus station for Peterborough moves up a gear
Action is likely to be approved today (January 5) that could help secure land for an electric bus station depot in Peterborough.
Members of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority’s funding committee will decide that moves should be made to secure and acquire a site in the city for a state of the art bus depot.
The location of the preferred site has not been revealed.
They are also expected to approve the spending of £1 million to produce a full business case for the £20.6 million electric bus depot.
In addition, the committee is expected to approve up to £7.6 million for further development and land acquisition.
It will also authorise the authority’s mayor and other senior officers to make an offer to acquire or secure an option on a freehold land or property for the bus station.
It is hoped the site that is finally selected will be suitable for conversion into a commercial electric vehicle depot that can be used by an array of organisations in Peterborough from bus operators to the NHS.
Creation of a new bus station will essentially mean the relocation of Peterborough’s existing bus station in Lincoln Road and pave the way for enhancements to what is considered a ‘deprived’ area of the city.
A report to the committee warns: “With suitable sites now appraised and a preferred site ready for offer, we aim to move at pace to reduce the risk of losing a viable location and to protect the value of work completed to date.”
It adds: “There is a clear need for a new bus depot in Peterborough, where the current operator-owned depot is not ideally located, too small for fleet expansion and lacks electric charging facilities.
“A new depot is also a requirement to successfully deliver franchise implementation, by enabling operators to enter the market and so improve competition and performance of the network.”