Councillors are being recommended to pass the first two sections of the Spalding Western Relief Road when they decide on the applications later this month.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Planning and Regulation Committee has been told by planning officers that it should give planning permission to build the sections from Spalding/Pinchbeck Road to the north of the town and from Spalding Common to the south when it meets on Monday, July 29.
However even if the committee agree to pass either of the applications, a notice to make the application official can’t be issued as both applications are subject to the officer of the Secretary of State potentially looking to ‘call-in’ the application following representations from South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes.
If this occurred it would be central government who would decide on whether the planning applications be accepted.
The report to the Planning and Regulation Committee by the county council’s Executive Director for Place, Andy Gutherson states: “Having taken into account comments and assessed the proposals against local development policies contained within the adopted South East Lincolnshire Local Plan, overall the proposals are both considered to accord with the vision, objectives and criteria for new development as set out in Local Plan.
“Subject to mitigation measures identified within the applications and suitable planning conditions, I am therefore satisfied that the developments could be undertaken in a manner where the level of impact would be acceptable and would not significantly conflict with the wider objectives or development control policies contained within the Development Plan.”
The full officer’s report can be read here.
Coun Richard Davies, the county council’s executive member for highways, said in a statement announcing that the application would come before the committee: “Our hope is that both planning applications are approved by the committee later this month so we can break ground on the north section this winter and the south section in 2022.
“However, should the committee choose to grant permission, they cannot officially issue a decision until the Secretary of State has reviewed the applications and makes his own decision about whether to call them in.
“We haven’t been given a timeframe for this process, but hope it will be resolved quickly if necessary.
“Although we plan to build the relief road in phases, the traffic research and modelling we undertook last year showed that both the northern and southern sections will improve traffic flows in town on their own, until the middle section is built.
“This is particularly true at the B1356 Spalding Road, the main route between Spalding and Pinchbeck to the north, and the B1172 Spalding Common, the main route into Spalding from the south.”
If approved, the northern section of the road will be funded via a £12m Housing Infrastructure Fund contribution with the remaining £15m being funded by Lincolnshire County Council.
The south section will be paid for by developer contributions and county council funding, both of which are still being identified and secured.
Coun Davies added: “I want to reassure those living on Bourne Road and Horseshoe Road that these applications are not for the middle sections of the new road.
“As of now, we’re still working on a feasibility study looking into a number of options for the central sections of the relief road. We still expect this to be complete by the end of this summer, at which time, we’ll announce what our preferred route is based on the study’s findings.”
