2024 was the year scaffolding came down from St John’s Church, and part of the Project Anchor former Scunthorpe market site got completed.
But where will major projects be in Scunthorpe and other parts of North Lincolnshire in 2025? We take a look at several developments expected to make significant progress next year.
The New Year could see a number of project completions, including a health centre that will handle up to 146,000 appointments a year.
Enterprise and innovation hub / new police station
This topped the agenda for 2024, and does so again. Fence screens and scaffolds are now down, so Project Anchor’s enterprise and innovation hub can be fully viewed by passers-by.
The accommodation block part of the project on Scunthorpe’s former market site was completed in 2024. The local NHS has leased the 46-bed unit, Elizabeth Row, for staff.
The hub was, at the time of writing, virtually complete in external form. It will include inside high quality office space, a high-end licenced café, and a bar. But scaffolding can be expected to return.
The front entrance to the future enterprise and innovation hub, on Scunthorpe’s old market site
(Image: LDR)
The main tenant for the site will be Humberside Police. Its new Scunthorpe police station will be at Project Anchor and involves a further western side extension. Planning approval was granted the Friday before Christmas. The police station’s construction is expected to take 72 weeks.
The steelworks
British Steel has permission to build an electric arc furnace (EAF) at its Scunthorpe site, which would replace its coke-powered blast furnaces to be a greener alternative. The blast furnaces will run into the New Year, but there is currently no longer term certainty.
British Steel’s owners, Jingye Group, and the Government continue to be in talks over a support package to assist the company’s plans to transition to greener steel. Expect further plans also for the creation of an advanced manufacturing park on disused steel site land. North Lincolnshire Council wants establishment of this by April 2026.
Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC)
In Lindum Street, a new health centre has gradually been built over 2024, on the ground floor car park area by Parishes multi-storey car park. Contractors have worked since autumn 2023 constructing the town’s £19.4m NHS community diagostics centre (CDC).
This will offer patients tests for a range of conditions, such as cancer, heart and lung disease, and have the capacity for up to 146,000 appointments a year. It was originally due for completion in the summer, but although it had progressed significantly, contractors were still there in December.
The Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) being built in Lindum Street, Scunthorpe – late November 2024
(Image: LDR)
Discover @20-21 and Queen Elizabeth Gardens
One minute away from Project Anchor is St John’s Church and Queen Elizabeth Memorial Gardens.
St John’s Church had scaffolding up until the latter part of 2024 for £1.5m conservation works. Internal restorations were to be followed by the creation of Discover@20-21, a new free children’s science and tech centre. Completion of the installation is due in April.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth Memorial Gardens is due for further change. It was already transformed and reopened in 2022 after a £1.4m makeover.
Scunthorpe Live understands further reconfiguration is expected at its eastern end, where there are currently parking spaces and the High Street entrance to Church Square. It will be redone, with an emphasis on increasing disabled parking spaces.
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Library and High Street
Opposite the restored St John’s Church is Scunthorpe Central Library. In 2024, the Conservative-run council committed itself to a new library in the town centre. This would involve the existing library’s revamp and associated new homes and office space.
Major council-backed Scunthorpe development projects have all been at this end of the High Street in recent years, including Scunthorpe Central’s transformation into a multi-service hub in 2018. Efforts to revitalise the High Street will be key to show council project investment in the town goes beyond what can be seen from its own windows.
In autumn 2023, £15.9m Levelling Up Fund cash was announced for Scunthorpe to achieve “town centre vibrancy and transport hub improvements”. It has a deadline of March 2026 to be used by. North Lincolnshire Council’s leader Cllr Rob Waltham has said the High Street’s empty shops will be the focus.
This will involve the conversion of units into housing, and larger units being broken down into smaller ones to support independent businesses. The council also has a separate £500,000 grant to invest in greening the High Street.
The end of Scunthorpe High Street, by St John’s Church and Queen Elizabeth Memorial Gardens
(Image: LDR)
Burringham bypass and Barton
Work has begun on the new M181 southern junction, which will be the Burringham bypass. Its completion is expected in the spring. The £5.1m scheme will unlock land for future Lincolnshire Lakes housing too.
In Barton-upon-Humber, planning approval was given in September for its new relief road. This will link the A1077 and Caistor Road, helping motorists avoid Barton town centre when transferring from the A1077 east of Barton to the A15 west of the town.
Progress on its construction can be expected in 2025. It is being funded by £19.7m Levelling Up Fund cash, a small proportion of which is also intended for new cycle lanes in and around Barton, and a revamp of Barton Interchange.
Barton Interchange replacement bus shelter, installed in 2024
(Image: LDR)
The interchange, where buses and the town’s railway station meet, has had a new car park and a replacement bus shelter installed in the last 18 months. But the whole revamp should involve a brick-built shelter, buses to stop parallel to the station, and a Changing Places toilet.
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