Southern Link Road Preferred Route

[dippyhippy]

Hi AV... Alan Seldon abstained.

[Denise Lloyd]

I can tell you hang on I will be back

 

 

r.... 12 For, 4 Against (Powers, Mansell, Kenyon, Norman), 1 Abstention (Seldon)

 

There were also some strong substitutions Roger Phillips being one

[dippyhippy]

Ah. Phillips.

 

Well and truly back into the bosom of the family....

[Maggie May]

I have heard that 2 directors wrote a letter to the Hereford Times last week supporting the SLR and bypass. Apparently it is the same letter that appears on the Herefordshire Council website here  https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/media/4674340/hfd-times-letter-200516.pdf . It apparently got mentioned at the Southern Link Road planning meeting today. Can directors of the Council who are paid by local taxpayers actually write such a letter which seems a very party political act, especially just a few days before such a big planning decision?

I understand that Herefordshire Council were saying today that with all the investment in the Head of the Valleys road system that the Council want to improve the road from Abergavenny to the Southern Link Road to help everyone from South Wales get to Rotherwas Enterpise Zone so it can be expanded more. This seems to be more important than a bypass - but how are Herefordshire Council going to sort out the bridge at Llangua and the railway bridge at Pontrilas? I am sure Mr Collins can fix it for them and it would certainly help his team to do more work locally in Pontrilas and in South Wales as according to the Hereford Times report he loses £20,000 p.a. with staff travelling to and from Hereford. 

[Denise Lloyd]

More problems with the sums this from Here for Hereford

↠What is the True Cost of the Southern Link Road to date?

 

Is there a £7 Million Hole in the South Wye Transport Package?

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Liz

The South Wye Transport Package (SWTP) Outline Business Case submitted by the Marches LEP to Central Government  described the following components as key elements of the project:-
New link road linking A465 with A49 (the Southern Link Road);
Pedestrian crossing improvements to Belmont Road and A49 in Hereford urban area;
Cycle and walking provision on and off road at A49 and A465;
Residential cycling schemes in Belmont and Bullingham.

This Outline Business Case also provided a breakdown of the Capital costs for the full South Wye Transport Package as:–
A465/A49 Southern Link Road                                                                                 £29,729,000
A465 public realm scheme (to reduce severance and promote active travel)    Â£3,000,000
Cycle & walking schemes in Belmont area                                                                Â£1,000,000
Cycle & walking schemes in Bullingham area                                                          Â£1,000,000
TOTAL COST                                                                                                      Â£34,729,000

Funding for the scheme was approved by Central Government on the basis that the Department for Transport would grant £27 million and Herefordshire Council would match fund the remaining £7,729,000.

In February 2016 Herefordshire’s Full Council Meeting agreed its Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for the period 2016/17 to 2019/20 ( Herefordshire Council MTFS 2016/17 onwards ). The MTFS document listed the various capital programmes the Council seeks to fund, up to and including 2019/20. This includes the South Wye Transport Package (SWTP), which is to be funded across the years as follows (page 14 of MTFS):-
2015/16               £1 million,
2016/17               £1 million
2017/18             £12.3 million
Future Years    Â£12.7 million
Total of          Â£27 million.

This means there is a shortfall betweeen the MTFS budget and the South Wye Transport Package (SWTP) Outline Business Case of £7.729 million, the amount Herefordshire Council committed to provide to secure the Â£27 million Local Growth funding from Central Government.

Will the Government withdraw its’ £27 million grant for the South Wye Transport Project without the contribution Herefordshire Council promised to secure the Local Growth Funding?

Could this explain why the Quarterly Monitoring Returns that Herefordshire Council officers have submitted to the Department for Transport show a cost of the SWTP project of £32.601 million with Herefordshire Council contributing £7.9 million.  This is despite the Budget for the SWTP agreed by Councillors  in December 2015 and again in February 2016 excluding any contribution from Herefordshire Council.( 160504 Q4 Quarterly Monitoring Report 15-16  submitted by Herefordshire Council to the Dept for Transport1.1.2016 to 31.3.2016 ).

What is the actual budget that officers are working to in Herefordshire Council and what is the project cost the Department for Transport are funding?
If it is the £27 million agreed and adopted by Councillors, how will the full scheme be delivered, including the sustainable transport measures, on top of the cost of a road, now extended to the Clehonger road?

If Herefordshire Council’s  budgets are the correct figures, with the SWTP project funding cut by 22%, it would make sense to proceed with as many of the sustainable transport measures possible, ahead of any road building work. The sustainable transport measures will generate bigger benefits to existing residents, have a much higher return on investment and provide better value for money for tax payers than road building.

[Maggie May]

Denise please can you help me understand this. The article says the road was due to cost £29 million but it only mentions the road from the Ross Road to the Abergavenny Road. What about the extra section that now links the Abergavenny road to the Clehonger Road? If this section of road is extra surely the cost of the road the council have granted planning permission to is now longer than originally planned. If the road is longer surely this would cost even more than the original £29 million. Yet Herefordshire Council now only have a budget for £27 million for a bigger road and everything else. Will the road stop when the money runs out? What about all the safe cycling and walking route we were supposed to get in South Wye?  I thought we were due to have a bus lane and extra bus services up and down the Belmont Road which would really help some of my older friends, a couple of the ladies dont drive and were looking forward to the extra bus services. 

[Denise Lloyd]

Maggie May no sorry I wish I could explain perhaps one of the Councillors who voted it through would like to come on here and explain it.   They after all were obviously privy to all the information prior to voting.