Stalled ferry prompts calls for a river bridge

A senior councillor has called for officials to build a bridge over England's fifth-longest river to link a town with its "socially isolated" neighbour.

Terry Parish, an Independent at West Norfolk Council, proposed the idea during a debate about the struggling ferry service in King's Lynn.

The ferry across the Great Ouse to West Lynn has been suspended since mid-January because its concrete landing stage is not safe.

"We don't just need a ferry, we need a bridge," Mr Parish said. "That should be the long term plan."

At a full council meeting on 27 February, councillors agreed to a budget amendment to allocate £150,000 for an expert study looking at how boat services could be revived.

During that meeting Mr Parish said he believed focusing solely on the ferry was a mis-step, and that a bridge was the solution.

"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," he said.

"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 Great Ouse.

People have to drive south from West Lynn to the Pullover Roundabout, before driving across the A47 road bridge to get to King's Lynn, or by using the Wisbech Road/Clenchwarton Road single-carriageway bridge just to the north of it.

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.

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