Southern Link Road Preferred Route

[dippyhippy]

And it's precisely this sort of construction that would allow The Lugg Flatts to rejuvenate and recover!

 

From an environmental perspective, this has got to be better, than what has been proposed. As I said in an earlier post on this thread,(post number 72,page3.) as soon as the words "bypass" and "Lugg Flats" are uttered in the same sentence, folks start jumping up and down - but there ARE ways around it......or over it......which would work. Certainly worth careful consideration, I would have thought. 

[dippyhippy]

And you are quite right, structures such as these can be quite beautiful.......with the right folks making the decisions!!

[greenknight]

Yes please.... a minature version just fine.

[dippyhippy]

Sooooo.........why isn't a proposal such as this being considered??

 

I do think this route would have a significant impact on alleviating Herefords crippling traffic issues, I also feel that it is preferable to demolishing ancient woodland, which is irreplaceable.

 

I would be very interested to see a cost comparison between this, and the proposed route.

 

In order to make a decision, folks need to see the actual facts and figures.

[twowheelsgood]

Yes, the Millau Viaduct is one of the world's greatest structures - designed by a UK architect, Norman Foster. At 343m high it would be overkill for the Lugg Flats, which needs only to be perhaps 10m above the ground level, but nonetheless, its entirely doable and something to be proud of -after all, we are told 'Here we can', albeit by the departed Jarvis. Far better a fine piece of architecture, or art even, sweeping through the countryside, than a bog standard strip of tarmac flanked by thousands of identi-boxes thrown up to pay for it.

 

Interesting that the Millau is a toll bridge with a 75 year pay back - 7 Euro's to cross - so there's an idea - make it a toll bridge to pay for it - with perhaps a reduced rate for locals, using automatic number plate recognition for registered users so they don't have to stop.

[greenknight]

Yes, the Millau Viaduct is one of the world's greatest structures - designed by a UK architect, Norman Foster. At 343m high it would be overkill for the Lugg Flats, which needs only to be perhaps 10m above the ground level, but nonetheless, its entirely doable and something to be proud of -after all, we are told 'Here we can', albeit by the departed Jarvis. Far better a fine piece of architecture, or art even, sweeping through the countryside, than a bog standard strip of tarmac flanked by thousands of identi-boxes thrown up to pay for it.

 

Interesting that the Millau is a toll bridge with a 75 year pay back - 7 Euro's to cross - so there's an idea - make it a toll bridge to pay for it - with perhaps a reduced rate for locals, using automatic number plate recognition for registered users so they don't have to stop.

Well this is great ...it's still ticking the boxes ( I made a similar comment about the toll solution in the HT a few weeks back).....this should be our solution and if it has to be one let it be East. I might even be able to view it from my Tupsley window.!!! IOC are you reading this 2015 and all that!

[greenknight]

Actually TWG I might just seek out Sir Norman and see if he would be happy to sit around the table for a chat! Away for a bit but will keep an eye on this topic.

[dippyhippy]

Brilliant!

 

We are coming up with an excellent alternative proposal!!

 

 Looking at the members who have viewed this page, there are a fair few names whose opinions on this I would be very interested to hear. The elections are less than six months away.....time for some councillors to start engaging with the electorate a bit more!

[Denise Lloyd]

and be a bit more innovative

[Denise Lloyd]

Here for Hereford â€@HereforHereford  2 hrs2 hours ago

Gen Overview & Scrutiny meeting has tonight sent decision on Southern Link Road route selection of SC2 back to Cabinet.

[twowheelsgood]

Sent back to Cabinet - so what does that mean? They were the ones that arrived at this mess first time round -are they to be allowed another go at it? 

 

The independent report in Supplement 1 says 'PB route selection exercise is so poor that it has no credibility, so there can be no confidence that the preferred route is indeed the best route'.

 

PB being the Council's Consultant's Parsons Brinckerhoff, who just happen to be owned by Balfour Beatty (or at least they were until a couple of months ago), so an entirely unbiased view from them. PB were sold to raise cash for the ailing BB, whose shares have been in free fall as senior staff/directors/CE's abandon ship.

 

Ridiculous that councillors were only given a few days to read and consider 250+ pages of information and that some of the data wasn't even available today, requiring an adjournment for an hour whilst it was found. Why the obscene haste to push this through - is someone's pension pot riding on it?

[Cloudberry]

If you read the pdf document currently provided by Bill Tanner on the Hereford Times website (I hope you can find it vai this link 

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11639874.Herefordshire_Council_s_southern_link_road_plan_is_sent_back_to_cabinet/

  ), you may be as dismayed as I was to read how so many excellent and sensible questions about the validity and route of the Southern Link Road are being swept under the carpet. Yes, the questioned decision on the route is being sent back to Cabinet by the Overview and Scritiny Committee. But Cabinet will probably just thank everyone for their input and plough on regardless with a proper planning application and consent.

 

There's so much good sense on Hereford Voice and elsewhere, but it's not being listened to.

 

Big road schemes are always paired with big new housing developments. More homes = more people = more council tax. That's the only way such schemes can increase "prosperity". But these schemes will also increase congestion in central Hereford and increase pressure on many services including hospitals and welfare. I would much rather spend any available funding on tackling the welfare cuts that so many Herefordians are feeling the brunt of.

[dippyhippy]

Agree completely, Cloudberry.

 

I would hope that Councillors are going to start jumping up and down about this. Serious discussions about alternatives really do need to take place. And there ARE alternatives!

 

The reasons why they are so keen to push this through so quickly are not at all clear to me, so I am thinking that Two Wheels has probably hit the nail firmly on the head in his post above.(101.)

 

This council have wasted so much money, saddled generations with debt, let's not allow them to add to it without making very sure that they have got it right.

 

That means looking at ALL the options.

 

A short term fix,is never the way to solve along term problem!

[Aylestone Voice]

TWG - maybe so but was not the independent report prepared by someone employed by those totally opposed to the project? So obviously unbiased. I guess it depends on which consultant you choose to believe?

[Cloudberry]

AV - the Council reports from consultants Parsons Brinckerhof have been shown to be biased towards building the Southern Link Road along this route approved by Cabinet, through omitting some information. We now know about other facts that should apply to this decision, e.g. that Natural England show Grafton Wood as ancient woodland on their maps.

 

Introducing facts previously not considered is not bias, it is just a wider range of information for making and justifying decisions.

 

I have not yet seen details of any significant benefit to the Enterprise Zone, or any benefit to Herefordians, to support spending millions on this road. So what is the justification for carving up our heritage landscape?

[greenknight]

Even if someone came up with the excuse that this road is in fact part of a plan to build a ring road in stages then I would say fine ...but let's have one of the other hypothetical segments first... say the sections on the east side as previously discussed. The people sanctioning this proposal cannot be vehicle/HGV owners..you simply would have no reason to use this road unless of course you tapped on a bridge over the Wye. Oh and let's also plough through ancient woodland for no reason. Heh you IOC crew.. let's see you gauging opinion in the town centre or our local hauliers and big business movers. Given the choice I am sure they would prefer quicker ways round the city rather than a road that leads to a dead end but gives the nod to thousands of new homes because this is what it's about ......deception,greed and filling someone else's pockets. Please don't sell me the idea of road construction creating jobs as most of these skills are bussed in using outside labour. I would also like to here the views of other Hereford Knights of the Road like Messrs Kingspan,A.B.E,Burgoynes,and of course our local cider boys. Can you people's see any benefits here?

[greenknight]

Well it got sent back to cabinet..what does that mean...Well bloody zip..no s..t sherlock. They cabinet is very happy with its process..Well we know that. Should this disaster go ahead without another bridge over the river kwye then it's time to start another flipping crusade...and I've been on a few of them. This is nonsense they reckon it would be complete by 2018.... can anyone guess what the road will be like through town by then?

[Cloudberry]

Looking back at developments through 2014, as reported by Hereford Voice, Hereford Times, Here for Hereford, etc.  it is looking like the people of Hereford are having less and less say on what happens in and around Hereford, and this Southern Link Road idea is currently the biggest example.

 

If, (see Here for Hereford) the Highways Agency have NOT agreed that a Southern Link Road, (and western road bridge and Western Relief Road) is the answer to congestion or anything else in Hereford, why are the Cabinet still so intent on achieving it? The answer is that funding is being made available through the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). That’s the small group of business people and Council Leaders from Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. It follows that the main interests of the LEP are for business opportunities. So new road schemes and all the housing estates that have to be built with them are very good news for businesses, especially those with links to providing the construction or to landowners.  In July in the thread about the Marches LEP, Megilleland asked if the Marches LEP would be the new Hereford Futures.

 

Anyway, it seems that the actual usefulness of proposed new roads like the Southern Link Road comes a poor second to business opportunities. And preserving the exceptional beauty of our landscape, conserving our ancient woodland and wildlife, and building all over top grade agricultural land (likely to be needed for growing food in the unpredictable climate-changing world)  - all come a long way down the list of considerations. (I’ll be there for a campaign, Greenknight!)

 

Maybe today the Cabinet system will be challenged successfully, and things will begin to change.  But at the moment there seem to be no barriers to the Council awarding itself planning permission. All these road and housing plans are part of the Council’s overall Core Strategy plan up to 2031 that will be examined, and possibly rubber-stamped by a government inspector in February.

[dippyhippy]

Well.....after our success at halting the demolition of The Working Boys Home, I feel that a new project / campaign could definitely be on the cards!

 

You are quite correct, Cloudberry in your assertion that we, the good folks of Herefordshire are not getting a say in the decision making process - the pot of money to fund these projects is held regionally, and the decision makers are swayed, not by what is going to benefit the people, but what is going to benefit those that they seem to work hand in glove with.

 

There are some very "cosy" arrangements!

 

Time to get busy once again folks!

[Cloudberry]

None of the routes proposed for the Southern Link Road can avoid ancient Grafton Wood because it is so close to the obvious exit going west from the A49, at the roundabout that was built specifically for the road to Rotherwas.

 

The Council tell us they will plant new trees, etc. but they are missing the point.  It is not just trees they will be damaging, it is the whole ecosystem. That includes all the insects and microscopic organisms that depend on one another and have built up their numbers over the centuries. Some of these don’t exist outside ancient woodland, and so they are very vulnerable to extinction. Once ancient woodland is removed it cannot be reinstated because it is very complex and takes centuries to develop.

 

For these reasons the Woodland Trust currently have a national campaign to save ALL remaining ancient woodland, and we can all sign up to a message directly to David Cameron.

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/campaigning/campaigns/protect-ancient-woodland/take-action/

 

[greenknight]

None of the routes proposed for the Southern Link Road can avoid ancient Grafton Wood because it is so close to the obvious exit going west from the A49, at the roundabout that was built specifically for the road to Rotherwas.

 

The Council tell us they will plant new trees, etc. but they are missing the point.  It is not just trees they will be damaging, it is the whole ecosystem. That includes all the insects and microscopic organisms that depend on one another and have built up their numbers over the centuries. Some of these don’t exist outside ancient woodland, and so they are very vulnerable to extinction. Once ancient woodland is removed it cannot be reinstated because it is very complex and takes centuries to develop.

 

For these reasons the Woodland Trust currently have a national campaign to save ALL remaining ancient woodland, and we can all sign up to a message directly to David Cameron.

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/campaigning/campaigns/protect-ancient-woodland/take-action/

 

Thanks for the heads up on The Woodland Trust campaign Cloudberry.

 

My signature of support is in.

[Ubique]

Signed .

[dippyhippy]

Signed with pleasure.

 

Let's hope this petition has some effect!

[Denise Lloyd]

Signed and I bought my Christmas cards from them this year

[Cloudberry]

Very well done you Signers! Pass the Woodland Trust message on if you can

[Cloudberry]

On Thursday Councillors who make up Cabinet will meet to discuss the Southern Link Road Route SC2 again and dismiss all concerns and objections recently raised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  They expect to award themselves planning permission in the Spring.

 

Documents accompanying the Agenda

http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=251&MId=5063&Ver=4

make it clear that the Cabinet Councillors stand by their assertions that this route linking the A465 and A49 is essential for the development of the Enterprise Zone and for reducing congestion in Hereford. But surely anyone can see that this road can only redistribute (not reduce) traffic before most of it passes into Hereford past ASDA as usual. The new housing developments that will accompany it can only add residents and therefore add to city centre congestion.

 

And yet spending £25 million+ on this road is still seen as essential by Cabinet.

[megilleland]

Bill Tanner working overtime here:

Published in Hereford Times News by Bill Tanner

 

Herefordshire Council’s favoured SC2 southern link road plan goes on public display this week.

 

The Three Counties Hotel is hosting a exhibition of the £25 million plan from 12 noon to 8pm on Friday with consultants on hand to take questions.

 

A planning aplication for SC2 is expected to be submitted within weeks after cabinet backed the project last month, despite scrutiny committee concerns that the selection process could have breached the council’s own rules.

 

Cabinet rejected these concerns citing the “satisfaction†of council officers and outside consultants at the potential for the process to withstand procedural challenge.

 

The same “satisfaction†applied to the financial case for the road after an assessment by the council’s chief finance officer.

 

Already, the cost of carrying out route appraisal and related consultation over the current financial year is confirmed at £505,000 funded through the council’s revenue budget for the scheme.

 

Confirmation of SC2 as the preferred route enables the council to capitalise the cost of preparing a planning application and the future costs of completing the detailed design, land and construction requirements.

 

It is anticipated that these capital costs associated with the scheme to remain on programme will amount to £600,000 found through the council’s transport funding, pending any draw down of government funding.

 

The process the council will need to follow to draw down that funding is currently being developed by the Department of Transport.

 

In December, a single vote saw SC2 sent back to cabinet for re-appraisal after a near five hour meeting of the council's overview and scrutiny committee.

 

Just seven councillors were left in session at Hereford Shirehall when the vote was called.

 

The current case for SC2 was rejected by a 4-3 majority with the committee citing concerns about the extent of consultation and the accuracy of the route's costings.

 

Three councillors called cabinet's support for SC2 to the committee saying evidence suggests issues around the choice of route have not been handled in accordance with the council’s constitution.

 

Amongst grounds for the call in were:

 

 - SC2, as backed by cabinet, passes through Grafton Wood, designated ancient woodland, a factor that ruled out four other route  options presented by the council’s consultants Parsons Brinckerhoff.

 

- Questionable capacity constraints identified on the A49.

 

- English Heritage and Sustrans - the body behind the city's Greenway foot and cycle route - not being properly consulted.

 

- No detailed appraisal of the case for not building a road at all.

 

These concerns were raised at the meeting that saw cabinet support the route last month.

 

There, members were warned then that SC2 could end in court with the related consultation process running the risk of judicial review and public inquiry.

 

Cabinet put its faith in legal advice given to the council’s own project consultants Parsons Brinkerhoff  that said the process was sufficient.

 

As proposed, SC2  leaves the A49 to pass through the centre of Grafton Wood and continue westwards over Grafton Lane and Withy Brook before veering north-west to a proposed new roundabout near the A465/B4349 junction.

 

Cabinet has been told that  Grafton Wood is of a “lesser ecological standard† than Newton Coppice and Hayleasow Wood through which other route options would pass.

 

Questions have also been raised about the extent of consultation with English Heritage over scheduled sites the road would impact on.

 

Much of the political opposition is expressed as against the route as opposed to the building of a road.

 

SC2 was recommended to cabinet on the basis of a route options appraisal by  Parsons Brinkerhoff.

 

The resulting report found four of the initial eight options represented “feasible  solutions†with the other four sifted out due to environmental considerations.

 

Public consultation took place in July / August where the results of the four route appraisal of these four routes were set out and feedback was invited.

 

Following consideration of this feedback detailed appraisal of a number of alternative alignments took place.

 

Cabinet was told that the council’s own project team has reviewed the resulting report and is “satisfied†with its conclusions and the highest score being given to SC2.

 

SC2 also scored highly in the public consultation and legal advice suggest the appraisal process - to date - is sound enough to go up against objections.

 

The route is also a projected £1 million-£1.6 million cheaper than the other options.

 

A  planning application for the road is expected within weeks for a Spring determination date.

 

The construction timeline sees the road built by early 2018.

 

SC2 – HEREFORD’S PROPOSED SOUTHERN LINK ROAD

 

Cabinet has backed a route pitched as improving connections between the A465, A49 and the Rotherwas industrial estate/enterprise zone.

 

As proposed, SC2 would be a single carriageway connecting the B4349, the A465 and the A49.

 

Environmental factors were crucial to the determination of the chosen route with designated ancient woodlands like Newton Coppice and Hayleasow Wood within the development area.

 

Four route options were rejected as affecting ancient woodland.

 

Leaving the A49 at the Rotherwas access road roundabout, much of SC2 passes through farmland but a section does cut through the centre of Grafton Wood - which has no environmental designation and a low tree density – to cross over the Hereford-Cardiff rail line and under Haywood Lane in reaching a new roundabout near the A465-B4349 junction.

 

An impact is recognised on the significance of Grade II* and Grade II listed buildings at Haywood Lodge and the setting of Grade II listed buildings at Clehonger Court, a Grade II listed milestone and potential effect on buried archaeological remains in four fields.

 

FUNDING SC2

 

THE cost of SC2 is covered by a provisional allocation of £27m in government secured through the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership to support the overall South Wye Transport  Package (SWTP).

 

Any match funding required to deliver the overall package is anticipated to come from private sector contributions and existing transport capital  allocations.

 

The £500,000 costs of carrying out route appraisal and consultation have been met through council’s revenue budget.

 

A confirmation of SC2 as the preferred route means the council could capitalise the costs of a planning application and detailed design, land and construction.

 

Capital costs associated with the scheme are estimated at £1.6 million funded through council’s transport capital allocation.

 

That allocation is estimated to be £600,000 this year and £1 million in 2015/16, pending the drawing down of government funding.

 

The current estimated cost for SC2 is £25 million. Any remaining funding goes into other initiatives identified in the SWTP.

 

SC2- THE RISKS

 

Residents and statutory bodies could lodge successful objections if the council’s appraisal process is not seen as robust - though legal advice suggests the process so far is sound.

 

Funding could be withdrawn if a preferred route is not selected and a planning application submitted in accordance with the project programme.

 

Whilst a provisional allocation of government funding has been made to fund the SWTP, the council will be required to complete further funding  submissions to the Department for Transport.

 

Delays to funding  being released by the Department for Transport could see in a delay to the delivery of the scheme and the need to continue covering costs from existing funding.

 

THE OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

 

SC2A - a variation on SC2 with the road crossing underneath the Hereford-Cardiff rail line.

 

SC5 - a route located further north of SC2/SC2A and south of Merryhill Lane crossing underneath the railway line and Haywood Lane.

 

SC7 - similar to SC5 but more twisted in nature to avoid environmental constraints.

 

Is this proper consultation again. Friday afternoon and evening when people are getting ready for the weekend. A good time to reduce public attendance and interest.

[Denise Lloyd]

and not very much notice to organise oneself

[Glenda Powell]

There is some confusion, as the Belmont ward Cllrs were told that this 6 hours meeting is on Thursday 29th NOT Friday 30th, I have left voicemails to both the officer and Bill to check which is the correct day, and to contact each other. I will ring the officer again in the morning for clarification, of which day it actually is.

[greenknight]

Either or Glenda I will find the time to visit.