Published: Wednesday, 7th May 2025
Following the temporary closure of the West Lynn Ferry, the borough council has issued this update today.
The borough and county councils worked together last summer to assess the structural integrity of the infrastructure and were jointly undertaking remedial works, when more significant defects became apparent: these led to the ferry’s temporary closure.
We continued to work together to overcome a number of technical and operational issues, and to design and fund a solution that would allow the ferry to reopen. We have worked closely with, and supported, the ferry operator throughout this period.
We now have all the jigsaw pieces in place to move forward. We have established a deliverable set of measures that will allow us to undertake interim repairs of the infrastructure on both sides of the river and allow the operator to implement some operational measures with the aim of reopening the ferry in the summer, if not sooner.
Cllr Michael de Whalley, Cabinet member for Climate Change and Biodiversity which includes the West Lynn Ferry, said:
“Firstly, I wish to empathise with how frustrating the ferry closure has been for users of the service, but the Borough Council has made safety paramount in its efforts to reopen it.
“There are a number of key elements, each of which had to be addressed separately on both the King’s Lynn and West Lynn sides. The most significant being the impact of the Rennie Jetty, which is situated a few inches alongside the West Lynn steps, which is in a poor state of repair. The jetty is an historical asset in the river, about 190 years old, and which has passed through a number of river authorities in its history.
“There are some minor works for the operator to do, which we hope will be completed in the next few days and once done, we will push forward with our programme of works, and as they are tide related, only then will we be able to give a timeline.
“I want to thank colleagues at Norfolk County Council and the conservancy board for their kind assistance as well as officers at West Norfolk for their commitment to reopen our historic ferry service as soon and as safely as possible.”
Both borough and county councils have agreed to support promotion of the ferry reopening nearer the time, to help it return to or exceed pre-closure passenger numbers.
In addition, the borough council voted in February to support medium-term improvements to the infrastructure of up to £150,000, to help towards design options and costs for the next stage that will secure a sustainable, long-term future for the ferry.