Agenda item

to consider and endorse, or make recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste, to take the proposed decisions as indicated below:

i)     to give approval to the revised preferred outline design scheme for the Sturry Link Road Drawing No. 430392/000/71 Rev 0 – Fig 2, updated to incorporate amendments arising from the public consultation, for development control and land charge disclosures.

ii)     to give approval to all acts required to acquire the land and rights for the carrying out and completion of the A28/A291Sturry Link Road scheme, including by means of a compulsory purchase order, and any other necessary statutory orders.

iii)     to accept, if necessary, any blight notice that may be served, on terms to be agreed with the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services.

iv)     to delegate to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment & Transport, under the Officer Scheme of Delegations, to take further or other decisions as may be appropriate to deliver the A28/A291 Sturry Link Road scheme in accordance with these recommendations and the earlier overarching decisions given under Record of Decisions 15/00070A and 17/00061, that remain extant.

Tim Read (Interim Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste) and Richard Shelton (Major Capital Programme Project Manager) were in attendance for this item.

1. Mr Whiting (Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) introduced the report which sought the Committee’s approval to endorse the preferred outline design of the Sturry Link Road which would run north and west of the A28 and A291. He welcomed Members questions and comments which would be used to inform the final decision.

2. Mr Shelton said that the Highway Authority had identified congestion issues within the town centre of Sturry; the Link Road would allow all A28/A291 through traffic to avoid the Sturry level crossing and therefore reduce the amount of congestion. Furthermore, in July 2017, Canterbury City Council’s Local District Plan had identified land at Sturry and Broad Oak as a suitable location for a new housing development. This required improved infrastructure, including a Sturry Link Road to relieve the level crossing, road investiture to the new housing and access to the station. The proposal was most recently presented to the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee in July 2017 which identified the need to go out to public consultation. A public consultation exercise was undertaken for six weeks from 26 July 2017 to 6 September 2017 and following the feedback received, amendments were made to the scheme which included: the widening of shared-use footway and cycle paths, the widening of the existing Shallock Road due to safety concerns of Network Rail, additional signal-controlled crossings, the relocation of a surface water pond; and discussions had taken place with bus operators regarding the location of bus stops. The next stage of the process would be for the Cabinet Member to approve the preferred scheme which would then be submitted as a planning application to the County Council. Mr Shelton assured the Committee that the scheme had been developed by Kent County Council in conjunction with Canterbury City Council, Network Rail and the Environment Agency to achieve the best possible outcome for the Sturry area within the restraints of the allocated funding.

3. In response to concerns regarding the development timetable, Mr Shelton said that the developer for the Sturry site had submitted a planning application in August 2017 which went out to consultation. Work had commenced to review the responses from that consultation and to amend the design proposals where feasible and a re-submission of that planning application was due to take place in four to six weeks’ time. These would then need to go through a formal planning process. Kent County Council needed to ensure that the application for the Sturry Link Road was submitted to support the applications for the housing developments. Mr Shelton advised the Committee that should the scheme be successful in getting consent to progress, the housing development would start to be built in 2019 and the Sturry Link Road would commence 2020/2021.

4. With regard to the level crossing and the impact this would have on journey time, Mr Shelton said that the system was operated and managed by Network Rail and whilst there would be significant improvements, the Highways Authority would not be able to provide exact figures.

5. In response to comments regarding the need for a traffic-signal controlled roundabout to support the traffic flow during peak times, Mr Shelton said that the traffic modelling that had been undertaken suggested that, the roundabouts as currently sized, would facilitate the traffic moving both east and west and this would act as a break in the traffic for those vehicles going south onto the A291. Mr Shelton agreed to review the query further against the current traffic modelling and circulate the information to Members of the Committee.

6. Members commented on the environmental damage of the scheme and asked whether the UK would move towards a European approach to removing asphalt roads by replacing them with more cycle paths and safer walking routes. Mr Read informed the Committee that due to the deregulated market in which the UK exists, Kent County Council needed to bid for Government funding when available. The funding that was awarded for the development of the A28/A291 Sturry Link Road was allocated specifically for the development of the infrastructure needed to meet the immediate demand. He said that 65% of those who responded to the public consultation agreed with the principle of the scheme and appreciated the environmental impact it would have. In addition, Mr Shelton assured Members that that cycle paths and footways were provided within the scheme along with off-route cycle ways.

7. Mr Read said that in terms of justifying the money received from Government, officers undertook a review of the business case to look at the benefits of building a dual carriageway against the potential cost of building a dual carriageway. The outcome of the review revealed that the funding would not support the desired infrastructure and therefore the scheme presented to the Committee contained the alternative modelling which could be achieved.

8. Mr Shelton confirmed that the junction at Sturry Crossing at the A28/A291 was designed to be a traffic signal-controlled junction.

9. In response to Members requests for further examination of the details within the scheme, Mr Read agreed to prepare for the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways Transport and Waste, a detailed analysis of the cost involved to build an extra lane, the benefit this would have and a review of the viaduct in order to achieve the correct balance between cyclists, pedestrians and buses, to ensure that an informed decision around the infrastructure could be made.

10. Mr Whiting acknowledged the comments made by Members of the Committee and agreed to receive further information from the officers regarding the cost benefits of the Members proposals.

11. Prior to the conclusion of the discussion Mr Cook proposed, and Mr Love seconded that a change be made to the recommendation in the report to add at the end of the words ‘proposed decisions’ the additional phrasing as follows:

‘subject to the Cabinet Member giving further consideration to the detailed points raised during the Committee regarding the roundabout at Sturry Hill and the capacity of the viaduct’

This was generally accepted by the Committee.

12. RESOLVED that subject to the Cabinet Member giving further consideration to the detailed points raised during the Committee regarding the roundabout at Sturry Hill and the capacity of the viaduct, the decision proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member to:

i)  give approval to the revised preferred outline design scheme for the Sturry Link Road Drawing No. 430392/000/71 Rev 0 – Fig 2, updated to incorporate amendments arising from the public consultation, for development control and land charge disclosures.

ii) give approval to all acts required to acquire the land and rights for the carrying out and completion of the A28/A291Sturry Link Road scheme, including by means of a compulsory purchase order, and any other necessary statutory orders.

iii) accept, if necessary, any blight notice that may be served, on terms to be agreed with the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services; and

iv) delegate to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment & Transport, under the Officer Scheme of Delegations, to take further or other decisions as may be appropriate to deliver the A28/A291 Sturry Link Road scheme in accordance with these recommendations and the earlier overarching decisions given under Record of Decisions 15/00070A and 17/00061, that remain extant.

be endorsed.

Mr M Whybrow, and Mr B Lewis asked

 that their votes against the recommendation be minuted.