Residents of the major housing developments that have taken place along the Quay in Lancaster face an even longer wait for their bus service.
Over the last ten years, almost 500 new homes have been built as part of the Luneside East and Luneside West development, built, sustainably, on the “brownfield” site that was once a major idustrial area. That sustainability, however, hasn’t extended to the provision of a bus service.
Houses but no buses
Despite the size of the development, neither of the city’s two bus companies saw a commercial opportunity, so a bus service was always going to need public fuding, at least until it could become established.
The larger of the schemes, the 403-home Luneside East, did require a contribution of £625,000 for “sustainable transport improvements” from its developers. At the time, the council’s preference was for a “bus-only” bridge across the Lune, which would have allowed buses to and from Morecambe to run via the Quay, but this was never built and it is not clear what else the money was ever spent on. The housing deveopment was taking place during a period when Lancashire County Council was seeking to solve one of its financial crises by reducing support for buses, so no funding was available from that source.
From 2021 government support for bus services was provided through Bus Service Improvement Plans and then Local Bus Grant allocations. Lancashire County Council has received very significant funding as a result, but despite requests from The Bus Users’ Group it has declined to spend any of it on a service to Luneside.
Luneside Business Park
Starting in 2022, there was a major development and expansion of the Luneside Business Park at the very western end of the New Quay. Finally, this was a develpment that did require a contribution towards a bus service, with developer Hurstwood Holdings having to make £500,000 available to fund one. But despite the work being substantially complete, there have still been hurdles to cross before a bus service could start.
Turning Circle
The powers-that-be determined that before a bus service could start, a bespoke bus turning cicle would have to be provided at the end of the route near Thetis Road.. There were lengthy delays, reportedly due to issues over land ownership, but the circle has now been built and, as can be seen, it is to a very high standard.
Hopes that this had removed the final obstacle to providing a service have, however, proved premature. The Bus Users’ Group now understands that before the facility can be used it has to have street lighting installed. Whilst this has, reportedly, been commisioned there is, as yet, no date for completion.
Further Problems Ahead
Lancashire County Council’s public transport team is keen to see the service start. It has already entered into an agreement with a bus operator to provide a service six-days-a-week from early morning to late evening linking the Quay to the bus station and city centre, subject only to the developer funding being received.
This should be straightforward given that the development of the Business Park is complete, but there are now doubts. In early October, the developer Hurstwood Holdings (profits in 2025 £4.467m) submitted an application to the City Council for a “developer request for status of outstanding contribution amounts”. Its unclear what this somewhat technically-worded request actually means, but its doubtful that Hurstwood is seeking to pay a higher amount! It appears, therefore, that there is at least a question over how much of the £500,000 will actually be forthcoming and when it will be avalable.
Best Practice
Best practice on large-scale housing developments is that a bus service should be established at a very early stage, so that new residents can factor it in when developing travel patterns. A ten-year delay (at least) in provding a service makes it much harder for one to become established, as residents will have developed ways of doing without it (largely by driving everywhere) and will be reluctant to change.
At this time, despite the turning circle and an agreed timetable being in place, there is still no indication as to when a service will start.
