Government money boosts bypass hopes

A planned Spalding Western Relief Road has had a government funding boost.

South Holland District Council said £12m has been awarded from Homes England.

A spokesman for Lincolnshire County Council said the money is a one-off capital grant and will be provided in a lump sum.

In July 2017, South Holland District Council was awarded £224,000 of government money for the same Spalding Sustainable Urban Extension project. £100,000 of the council’s growth budget was also paid into the project. This money was for “the development of technical and detailed design work for the Northern Phase of the Spalding Western Relief Road; infrastructure which is designed to support Spalding’s housing growth over the next 20 years and beyond.” A council spokesman said this money covered the brief.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Coun Richard Davies said the next step is to get planning approval “ahead of moving forward with detailed design work for the road scheme”.

A council press release said the £12m will “allow rapid progress and certainty and deliver a key section of Spalding’s planned relief road, the delivery of which will improve transport around the wider town, housing land to build an initial 600 homes and the planned delivery of a further 4,000 homes.”

Plans include a B1356 Spalding/Pinchbeck Road roundabout, a bridge over the trainline and “access into housing land identified in the emerging Local Plan”.

As reported in The Voice last week (February 1), no Local Plan is in place.

The South East Lincolnshire Local Plan is currently in examination and further hearings will take place over the next few months.

Three hearing dates have been postponed from this month and moved to April. It is expected to emerge in the summer.

Coun Davies said of the £12m funding: “This is great news for the people of Spalding as it brings us one step closer to making the Spalding Western Relief Road a reality.

“A new route around the west side of the town will be essential to improving journey times and reducing delays and congestion in the town centre, particularly as the amount of passing rail freight increases over the coming years.”
South Holland District Council Deputy Leader Councillor Nick Worth, portfolio holder for Growth and Commercialisation said: “This really is excellent news for the people of South Holland district which has far reaching benefits.”