Melanie Onn, MP for Grimsby and Cleethorpes, has branded the controversial Corporation Bridge scheme a “lasting monument to the Council’s mismanagement”, after delays and “shifting timelines”.
As previously reported, Corporation Bridge was closed to traffic in February 2023 for what was intended to be an 11-month, £5 million restoration project. Now, 27 months later, the structure remains shut with the work unfinished.
Last month NELC announced the decision to cut ties with the contractor, citing “unacceptable delays” and stating that it is their “absolute belief” that terminating the contract was necessary. In response, a Spencer Group spokesperson said they are “baffled and disappointed” at the decision.
With no new contractor on site, work has come to a halt, and it remains unclear when the bridge will reopen.
Now, local MP Melanie Onn has given a strongly-worded statement to Gi Grimsby News, expressing deep frustration over what she described as a once “straightforward restoration project”, that has since become a “lasting monument to the Council’s mismanagement.”
Drawing parallels with development work in Cleethorpes, Onn accused local authorities of a failure to deliver for residents, citing a pattern of “failed procurement and shifting timelines.”
Speaking to Gi Grimsby News, Onn said she is “deeply frustrated by the ongoing fiasco surrounding Corporation Bridge.”
“What should have been a straightforward restoration project has instead become a lasting monument to the Council’s mismanagement”, she continued. “This is not an isolated incident-it mirrors the stop-start chaos we’ve seen in Cleethorpes and speaks to a wider failure to deliver for local people. Residents rightly expect competence and transparency, not a revolving door of failed procurement and shifting timelines. Our community deserves better.”
