Humber Bridge attraction gets a lift as plans put forward

A PLANNING application for ‘the LIFT’ – a tourist attraction to take visitors up to the top of the Humber Bridge north tower has been put forward.

The plan submitted to East Riding of Yorkshire Council includes the construction of a glass elevator and viewing platform designed to take tourists to the top of the North Tower and enable them to see the views across the Humber.

The application also includes proposals for a new visitor centre complete with restaurant, and outline plans for a new 60-bedroom hotel, both to be built on part of the Humber Bridge Viewing Area car parks as part of a wider development scheme.

If the application is given the go-ahead work will get underway later this year and is expected to be completed before the end of 2017.

Peter Hill, Bridge Master and general manager of the Humber Bridge, described submitting the planning application as a ‘milestone’ in the project, adding that a lot of work had gone into getting the scheme to this point. “The LIFT is a really ambitious project,” he said.

“A lot of people doubted it could be achieved when we first talked about the idea, but a tremendous amount of work has gone into the design of the lift to turn it into a reality.

“Now that has got to the point of submitting a planning application we’re at a very exciting stage. It has been fantastic to watch the project take shape on paper, and assuming we get the go ahead from East Riding of Yorkshire Council, it will be even more exciting to watch it being built.”

Once built, visitors to the attraction will begin their journey at a new visitors’ centre near to the north side anchorage. They will be taken by a gondola underneath the bridge to the north tower, where they will get into one of two pods taking them up to a glazed gallery spanning the tower legs.

The mobile gallery then ascends to the top of the north tower to the viewing platform.

The chairman of the Humber Bridge board, Coun Rob Waltham from North Lincolnshire Council, said that the project would add significantly to the Humber’s tourism offering, attracting people from across the UK and beyond.

He said: “Hull, East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire are already fantastic places to visit and ‘the LIFT’ gives people another reason to come here, so hopefully, if planning consent is achieved, we will create an attraction that further helps to put the region on the map and adds significantly to the local economy.”