Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority release cash for report needed to build new bus depot

The Combined Authority has released £40,000 for an ‘evaluation paper’ to look into building a new bus depot in Peterborough.

The Lincoln Road bus depot is about 100 years old and has been described as “unsuitable” in coping with the level of bus movements in the city.

Speaking to members of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, Oliver Howarth said: “It is surrounded on three sides by back gardens of neighbouring residential properties - and on the fourth side it fronts on to a busy retail area.

"There is insufficient capacity for electric buses because each electricity charger will need barriers to protect it from parking accidents, taking up valuable floor space.

"There are also difficulties with bringing high voltages into such a residential area.”

‘Fufil future needs’

The £40,000 released by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) will be used to deliver a ‘evaluation paper’ looking at key requirements like electrification, additional overnight bus parking facilities and maintenance areas.

Bus strategy manager, councillor Howarth, added: “We need to create a new bus depot that has the flexibility to fulfil future needs including the potential for multiple bus operators, as there are no other significant bus depots in the greater Peterborough area.”

This will create a level-playing field for bus operators within the city who, up until now, have had to cope with dated facilities preventing them from decarbonisation efforts to help public health.

CPCA officers, working as part of the city-wide ‘Bus Reform Strategy’, will now have to find a suitable site and acquire the land – giving consideration the best financial return for the property.

They will also need to build and maintain a new bus depot, designed to facilitate multiple operators, which has the capacity to expand at a later date to meet future needs.

Concerns raised

Councillor Chris Boden had some reservations and added: “I read this proposal with some degree of dissatisfaction – it seems to me that we are so quick to release another £40,000 to fund a report from an external source.

“I personally would’ve thought that within the CPCA and Peterborough City Council there is sufficient knowledge and experience to have done quite a bit of this work internally, without having to get the whole lot done externally at a cost of £40,000.

“I know it’s the normal, local government way of doing things, but that’s why things end up costing so much more than they need to when they’re farmed out to the private sector.

“I do have some concerns that we’re not making best use of our own and Peterborough City Council officers time, knowledge and expertise.”

Mr Howarth replied: “I do understand councillor Boden’s concerns about going to external consultants - the problem is that at the moment we have about half the staff that we should have within the transport team, and therefore we need, in this case at least, some additional capacity.”

Members of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee voted unanimously to approve the drawdown of the £40,000 of funds for the evaluation paper.

The evaluation is expected to report back to committee members in time for their 16 November 2022 meeting.

By the Local Democracy Reporting Service.