‘We don’t just need a ferry, we need a bridge over the river’

A senior councillor has called for officials to build a bridge over a river to link Lynn with its neighbours on the other side of the waterway.Terry Parish, an independent at West Norfolk Council proposed the idea for the River Great Ouse during a debate about the ferry service in the town.It has had to stop running because its concrete landing stage is not safe.

While work is under way to get it back up and running, there are calls for longer-term solutions to be found.These have led to members agreeing to a budget amendment to allocate £150,000 for an expert study.But Mr Parish believes focusing solely on the ferry would be a misstep.

He said: “We don’t just need a ferry, we need a bridge. That should be the long-term plan. “It will mean people will not have to wait for a small ferry carrying a small number of people and they can cross at all times of day and night.“It is just a toy on the river really. “We need a way of carrying a large number of people across the river.”

Currently, there is no pedestrian-only bridge across the River Great Ouse.People have to drive south from West Lynn to Pullover Roundabout, before driving along the A47 road bridge, to get to Lynn.The debate also led to calls for the council to purchase the former Del Monte factory in West Lynn in order to increase car parking there. Councillor Steve Bearshaw said: “It is an eyesore. If we increase car parking we could advertise it as a ‘park and ferry’.”

While the construction of a bridge may be a long way off, Alexandra Kemp, who co-leads the Progressive Independent group, was successful in gaining funding for the study into the ferry, which gained widespread support.She highlighted the importance of the service as an important link for West Lynn – a community she says is socially isolated – through reducing the number of cars entering the town.West Norfolk Council officials are currently working to bring the ferry back into use by repairing the landing stage.