Pressure piled on council over closed Norwich park and ride

All the other city park and ride sites reopened last June, but Norfolk County Council has kept the one at Postwick, which was used as a Covid testing centre early in the pandemic, shut.

The Postwick Park and Ride site remains closed (Image: Copypright Mike Page, All Rights ReservedBefore any use is made of this picture, including dispaly, publication, broadcast,...)

The council is now being pushed to reopen the facility, with 11 parish councils issuing a joint statement saying it is essential that services resume.

Broadland district councillor Eleanor Laming (Image: Archant)

And, at a recent meeting of the Conservative-controlled county council's cabinet, Eleanor Laming, who represents Brundall on Broadland District Council, reiterated those calls.

The Green district councillor asked how keeping the site shut fitted in with the council's drive to cut carbon emissions.

Eric Vardy, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for environment and waste (Image: Supplied by the Conservatives)

In a joint response, Eric Vardy, the cabinet member for environment and waste, and Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: "We fully recognise the role that the park and ride service, including that from
Postwick, can fulfill for our climate strategy.

"This must be measured against the comparatively low patronage that park and ride has experienced post-pandemic and re-opening the site and service would add up to £200,000 to the subsidy that Norfolk County Council has had to find since the pandemic to open and run the other sites.

"We have every intention of re-opening the site once passenger numbers on the park and ride service, as a whole, have recovered to 75pc of pre-Covid levels, which will ensure that we have sufficient funds to run all the sites."

Ms Laming asked why the council had not sought government cash to help reinstate the service through the development of its Bus Service Improvement Plan.

Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport (Image: Jamie Honeywood Archant Norwich Norfolk)

But Mr Plant said Department for Transport criteria was that money could not be used to subsidise services which had been commercially viable before the pandemic and were now struggling and at risk of withdrawal.