Council to consider next steps for Bellfield Interchange after funding snub
The UK Government once again opted against giving East Ayrshire Council money for 'vital' project, council could now look for alternative approach
A decision on whether to plough on with plans to improve the Bellfield Interchange will be considered by councillors on Wednesday.
The project was put in doubt after the UK Government’s decision to bin East Ayrshire Council’s £10m proposals for the interchange.
Now councillors will decide whether the local authority will continue to make the case for the project and the funds required to make it a reality.
The council has described the interchange as ‘vital to the economic prospects of East Ayrshire and indeed the wider pan-Ayrshire region’.
"Vital to the economic prospects of East Ayrshire"
They also insist it would help address long standing significant challenges relating to pedestrian and vehicle safety.
The upgrade would see the introduction of traffic lights, a segregated left turn from Queen’s Drive to the A77, widening of the carriageway to three lanes and extend the A77 slip road.
It would also look at the installation of an active travel footbridge.
While the cost had been estimated at £10m at the time of the bid, technical issues around a service trench requiring strengthening work has increased the cost to around £14-15m.
Among the options for financing the work is via contributions from three developers adjacent to the interchange. However, they would not be expected to bear the entire cost.
Previous proposals have been unsuccessful
The report also stated: “The council is clear that Transport Scotland must take some financial responsibility for improvements to the Interchange which is one of their assets.”
The recent change of location for one of the Ayrshire Growth Deal developments, from Bellfield to Moorfield, will also reduce the amount of developer contributions likely to be available.
Unlike the previous round of levelling up funds, the decision was taken by the UK Government not to call for further bids as part of round three of funding.
Previously, unsuccessful applications in the first round were able to get feedback from the Levelling Up department, using this information to adapt their second round bid.
However, this option was removed when the UK Government announced that there would be no bidding process for round three, instead being determined by officials using existing applications and data.
Council to discuss continuing the project
East Ayrshire officials had already begun working on improving the Bellfield bid, when the change was announced.
The report stated: “Once again, it is noted that the round two bid for the Bellfield Interchange which was subsequently considered as part of the Round 3 process has been unsuccessful.
“The council has requested feedback from the UK Government setting out the reasons why the bid was unsuccessful.
“The UK Government’s decision not to open a formal Levelling Up Fund round three application, or indeed to accept further supporting information for previously unsuccessful round two applications, meant that the substantive work that had taken place to address our round two feedback was not taken into consideration.
“The scores used for decision-making in round two were used and projects were not rescored or recategorised for round three."
"Disappointing" for the council
EAC didn’t make any bids in the first round, citing time constraints and workload.
While the Bellfield bid was unsuccessful in round two, EAC did secure £20m for the Cultural Kilmarnock programme.
The council indicated that the Bellfield bid was largely unsuccessful due to a lack of evidence to demonstrate that the money would be spent in the 2022/23 financial year.
The report continued: “Confirmation that this bid has once again been unsuccessful is clearly disappointing for the council and Ayrshire Roads Alliance.
“From a technical perspective the proposed upgrade of the Bellfield Interchange would improve the capacity, safety and general operation of the roundabout for vehicles.”
If approved, the council would seek an early meeting with stakeholders, including the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland to consider the way forward.
The cabinet will consider the report on Wednesday, February 7.