Councillors in Carlisle have agreed to contribute £5m to forward fund developer contributions towards a new £113m link road to the south of the city.
Carlisle City Council’s Executive Committee voted on Monday (20 August) to support Cumbria County Council in submitting an outline business case to the Government, seeking cash from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) to deliver the Carlisle Southern Link Road.
To underpin this bid, councillors also agreed 'in principle' a financial contribution of up to £5m in the authority’s capital programme for 2020/21 towards the funding strategy for the new road.
The road is seen as needed to progress the delivery of up to 10,000 new homes at the planned St. Cuthbert’s Garden Village. It would connect Junction 42 of the M6 with the A595 to the west of the city.
Councillors were also told that the new road would enhance strategic east to west connectivity and enhance network resilience, as well as reducing through traffic in the city centre, easing congestion and consequently easing air quality pressures.
Cumbria County Council announced a preferred route for the road (above) in June. As the top tier authority, it is required to lead on submissions for the HIF and proposes to submit the outline business case by 10 September, with a funding announcement expected from November onwards.
According to the outline business case, the total cost of the scheme is estimated to be £113m, with the developers of the new homes within the garden village expected to contribute £10m, potentially through a Community Infrastructure Levy.
However, councillors were told that the outline business case will need to demonstrate ‘how the road can be funded up-front and who ultimately will provide the financing in advance of the developer contributions being realised’.
The county council therefore proposed that the £10m should be shared with the city council on a 50/50 basis.
