The future of a park and ride site on the outskirts of the city is looking increasingly bleak after it was ranked the lowest during a public consultation. 

The facility at Postwick was earmarked for potential closure by Norfolk County Council as part of a huge range of cuts proposed in February - despite hundreds of homes being built near the site.

The results of a public consultation run by the council last November have been published - and the Postwick site performed the lowest in terms of satisfaction, at 60pc.

Norwich Evening News: Eleanor Laming is the Green party councillor for the Brundall and Postwick wardEleanor Laming is the Green party councillor for the Brundall and Postwick ward (Image: Eleanor Laming)

Eleanor Laming, Green district councillor for the Brundall and Postwick ward, said: "I was pleased that Norfolk County Council ran a survey and that 3,600 people took the time to respond.

"I know that the long-term future of the service, particularly the Postwick Park and Ride, is under threat as it is being subsidised by the council, but I hope that some way is found to continue it. 

"I did notice the slightly lower satisfaction rate for Postwick Park and Ride, but without more detail, it is hard to know exactly why that might be.

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"When the service restarted after the pandemic some residents weren't happy with the chosen route, which went via the A47 both into and out of the city, but this was recognised and addressed by Konectbus who kindly changed the inward route in January 2024 to include stops at both the rail station and Castle Meadow.

"That could be one reason for the results, as the route change happened after the survey had been carried out."

Norwich Evening News: Postwick Park and Ride scored the lowest for customer satisfactionPostwick Park and Ride scored the lowest for customer satisfaction (Image: Newsquest)

Cutting the Postwick service would save the council around £150,000 per year, particularly if customer numbers remain low enough that the service cannot run without the support from the subsidy.

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The trial run of the Postwick service, which only reopened following the pandemic in September 2023, has been extended until this month.

When it was relaunched, Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, transport and infrastructure at County Hall, said: "This really is a case of use it or lose it."

Norwich Evening News: Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport. Pic: Jamie HoneywoodGraham Plant, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport. Pic: Jamie Honeywood (Image: Norfolk County Council)

The survey results

Last November the county council ran a survey to find out what people want from the park and ride facilities, with the results intended to help make decisions about the future of the service.

Around 3,600 people responded.

Only 11pc of the responses were from those who use the service to commute to work, school or college, with 80pc of those people using the service at least weekly.

Sprowston had the highest results for user satisfaction, at 76pc, followed by Thickthorn (70 pc), Harford (64pc), the airport (62pc) and Postwick (60pc).

Later buses was seen as the main improvement needed among current users (33pc) but cheaper tickets was the priority among those who do not (23pc).