Campaign continues to reinstate Norbreck North tramstop

A campaign to reinstate the tramstop at Norbreck North on the Blackpool Tramway has recently been given a boost with news that the Sandhurst Area Panel has agreed to donate £5,000 towards the construction. This is on top of the £20,000 already guaranteed from the ward budget of Norbreck councillors Peter and Maxine Callow – however this money is only a small percentage of that which will be needed if the stop is to be added to the tramway.

A stop existed at Norbreck North – between the stops at Norbreck and Little Bispham – until the end of the 2011 season but as part of the upgrade to the tramway no platforms were constructed here to enable it to be retained from Easter 2012. Local residents have been campaigning since in the hope that they could persuade Blackpool Council to approve the construction of the stop.

Debate has been raging as to just how much it would cost to build a stop at Norbreck North with the locals claiming they have been told by a contractor the stop could be built for £50,000 and the Council quoting a price of £150,000. The price quoted by the Council would not only include the construction of the platforms itself but also alterations to the software on board the trams and tram detection systems on the track itself.

The local campaigners main complaint has been that the removal of Norbreck North has led to a 1km gap between stops (although the actual distance between Norbreck and Little Bispham is open to debate with many claiming it is much less than this) and that this means elderly residents are unable to use the upgraded tram system.

For their part the Council have been consistently saying they will look at the matter once the whole project has been signed off and they can see whether there is any spare cash still in place to allow the construction of a stop at Norbreck North.