Warning major project to tackle congestion may not go ahead
Funding is an issue
An extra £19 million still needs to be found so a major roadworks project in the New Forest which aims to ease congestion can go ahead.
That’s the latest from Hampshire County Council which said the extra money for the £125 million widening scheme for the A326 could be found from borrowing against future tax income from Solent Freeport sites.
Hampshire County Council has confirmed that it will continue to be the scheme’s promoter – the organisation with overall responsibility for the project – but made it clear that if additional funding cannot be secured, it cannot continue.
The county council has set out its conditions to remain the promoter of the A326 North road widening scheme. It said a local match contribution of around £19 million would need to be found but the council cannot use any of its funding to contribute to delivery costs or future cost increases.
For the development stage, the county council has already secured around £3.37 million from the Department for Transport’s Large Local Majors (LLM) funding – a pot of government money designed to help fund major projects which otherwise would not be possible.
There is also Solent Freeport funding, totalling £2.724 million, and £646,000 of county council funding.
With the scheme’s cost likely to be around £125 million, the Large Local Major fund will only cover 85 per cent of this, with the remaining 15 per cent needing to come from the Department for Transport, Solent Freeport and Hampshire County Council.
Therefore, a contribution of about £19 million would need to be found through match funding, of which around £3m has already been secured.
One option for obtaining the extra funding is through the Solent Freeport, which involves borrowing against future retained income from tax sites in the Freeport area.
If the Solent Freeport fails to provide the entire “local match” funding, the county council said it could come from the private or public sector through Section 106 developer contributions or the Community Infrastructure Levy.
Now, the county council will contact the DfT and Solent Freeport to confirm if they accept the conditions or are willing to negotiate how cost risks will be managed. This action must be completed before submitting the scheme’s outline business case and planning application.
Confirmation will be required after any business case is approved, or the county council will be unable to carry on with the project.
The scheme aims to improve junctions and widen roads along the A326 in the Waterside region of New Forest. This will be done between the Michigan Way junction located to the North of Totton and the Main Road junction in Dibden towards the South.
During the summer public consultation, feedback was collected through public events, online surveys, emails, and social media. Some 92 per cent of the respondents were from the Waterside area and feedback showed mixed opinions about the scheme, with improving traffic flow on the A326 road being the top priority.
Just over half (54 per cent) of the respondents were “sceptical” about the scheme’s ability to achieve this.
Improving the crossing for people walking and cycling was the second priority, with 51 per cent believing the scheme would deliver this. Some 64 per cent of the respondents had concerns about the scheme’s environmental impact, with 44 per cent being very concerned.
Speaking about the public consultation carried out in the summer, councillor Adrian Collet said (January 22) he was disappointed that local members did not support the scheme and mentioned the reasons for the community’s “hostility”.
Cllr Collet said: “I looked a little bit further at why there is such hostility to the scheme, and one of the comments made to me was that all it does the scheme is to move the pinch points into different locations, but it doesn’t actually eliminate them all.
“Another is that it does little for the South Waterside, which is also very busy but isn’t helped at all by this; people from the Waterside will get into traffic jams in different locations.
“There is a lot of suspicion and hostility. It is also disappointing to see that we are not making a lot of progress with the rail option down the Waterside, which is something I would like to see. … These are views that I have not just from members of my own party Lib Dem.”
In response, council leader councillor Rob Humby said there was a “huge amount of engagement” and added that what Cllr Collet said was “mainly incorrect”.
He said: “There has been a lot of clarification of what the additional benefits are for that scheme.”
According to council officers, they have conducted “modelling” tests which show that the proposed scheme would save time and increase journey reliability for residents.
He noted that the pinch point mentioned by Cllr Collet is situated in the north, meaning that those travelling from the south and heading north would benefit from the proposed scheme.
He added that there had been a” fear” that led to “scepticism” behind the road scheme, but he clarified that the main aim is to improve the road for residents.
The next important step for the council is to submit the planning application, thought to be this autumn, and an outline business case.