Fears raised Hucknall residents could have to foot £28.6m bill for Nottinghamshire road upgrades

Nottinghamshire County Council has put forward proposals for £28.6 million improvement works to six junctions on the A614 and A6097.

The council’s economic development and asset management committee discussed the proposals on March 8.

Councillors voted in favour of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to acquire land for the project.

But some raised concerns that the Department for Transport’s (DFT) contribution of £24.3 million is ‘only provisional at this stage’.

Hucknall councillor Dave Shaw (Ash Ind) said: “While I understand the proposals for this development is necessary for the alleviation of traffic and congestion, it still befalls the people of Hucknall to fulfil the gap in the picking up of the bill.

“You’ve only got to look at the Gedling Access Road that’s gone up by £9 million over budget.

“The proposals could lead to a public inquiry.

"We’ve got to be very careful on how much we spend.”

The work is intended to ‘increase traffic capacity so that both future residential and employment traffic can be accommodated whilst also reducing journey time delays’.

It is also hoped to provide ‘real economic momentum” in a location where many new build housing developments are being proposed.

A planning application has now been submitted and is expected to be voted on in June 2022.

The works are expected to start in 2023 and be complete by summer 2025.

Coun Steve Carr (Lib Dem) said: “I am a little concerned about the line which says that the money from the Department of Transport is only provisional at this stage.

“I am wondering what sort of costs are we going to incur between now and when a decision is made and what happens if the DFT doesn’t agree to provide us with the £24.3 million.”

Kevin Sharman, the council’s manager for transport and planning, said he could understand the concerns and said the authority had been through ‘lengthy discussions’ with the DFT, which has fixed their contribution to the council and budgeted for it.

He said: “They haven’t backtracked on these sort of principals in the past so we have to assume that this money will be forthcoming.”

Coun Roger Upton (Con) said: “I think we all agree that this piece of infrastructure is essential for the county of Nottinghamshire.

“I’ve been driving for 45 years and it needs to be done.

"This is the first step of trying to get compulsory purchase of the land that is needed.

“I’ll be dead by the time this thing gets off the ground.”

Coun Keith Girling (Con) chair of the economic development and asset management committee, added: “This is a vital piece of work and we are at the crunch point where it could actually happen.

“It could be absolutely disastrous to delay it, stop it or not do something because we are scared.”

Council documents stated that negotiations with landowners are already under way and that a CPO is a ‘last resort’.

The papers state that there is also the potential for a public inquiry if objections are received and not withdrawn in response to the CPO.

The documents added: “The A614/A6097 scheme will contribute to economic growth and investment in this part of Nottinghamshire and will deliver significant journey time savings and improvements in respect ofthe highways.

“It is considered that there is a compelling case in the public interest for making the orders, that there are no satisfactory alternatives and that the benefits of the scheme justify interference with private property rights.”

The recommendations were passed with two abstentions.

The junction improvements are:

Ollerton: The intersection of the A614/A616/A6075 roundabout.

Mickledale Lane: The A614/Mickledale Lane crossroads.

White Post: The A614/Mansfield Road roundabout.

Warren Hill: The A614/A6097 priority junction.

Lowdham: The A6097/A612 Nottingham Road/ Southwell Road roundabout.

Kirk Hill: The A6097/Kirk Hill crossroads.