‘We have £1m to start relief road plan - let’s not wait’
A £1m pot set aside to explore the viability of a major relief road scheme should be spent sooner rather than later, say local councillors.
The money has been allocated to explore the construction of a highway to link the A274 and A20 at M20 junction 8 on the outskirts of Maidstone. Cllr Gary Cooke has called for the cash, recently included in Maidstone council's latest budget, to be used to “get the ball rolling”.
The Leeds-Langley bypass has been discussed for decades but never realised.
Currently the two main arteries linking the A roads are Willington Street, near Maidstone, and the B2163 through Langley and Leeds.
In recent years, Maidstone council and Kent County Council (KCC) have been unable to agree a strategy to move the project forward.
Now KCC is standing on the brink of bankruptcy because its incomings from central governmment do not meet the soaring costs of providing its statutory services.
Borough council member Cllr Cooke, who is currently KCC chairman, said: “Local people will know that I have been campaigning for a relief road for many, many years.
“Anyone who has tried using the B2163 in recent months will know it is a bit of a nightmare. “This was compounded by the road's closure for the water pipe replacements and then the gas works. That’s when it really became clear the volume of traffic this country road has to take.
“Now the money is available to be spent on its viability, we should get on and use it. People have been waiting way too long.”
The road, if built at an estimated cost of £55-65m, would almost certainly come with housing.
Local well-placed sources suggest the scheme could bring up to 4,000 houses and some industrial units.
The route would stretch between the LOC8 logistics park near M20 junction 8 and the Four Wents at Langley. Where exactly the road would go would depend on landowners and the suitability of the land's geology it would cross. This would be assessed by the viability study, paid for out of the council funds.
The scheme is likely to be master developer-led rather than be a borough council project, said one council source.
Maidstone council currently has three large proposed sites in the pipeline - at Lenham Heath, Invictia Park and Lidsing - which would provide more than half of the 17,500 homes that need to be built in the next 15 years. All three are hugely controversial.
Deputy leader Cllr Paul Cooper, who is also a county councillor, said other sites will have to be found to satisfy the 1,300 annual requirement. He added: “There are huge benefits to be had from the relief road in that south east Maidstone area but it is difficult to see it happening without housing. The council need to provide housing because of the government targets. “Realistically, I'd imagine that 4,000 houses are about as many as could be built without encroaching on an area of outstanding natural beauty and existing villages, not to mention landmarks such as Leeds Castle.
“I have been in favour of a relief road for years, so it would be good to look at the issue in a lot more detail. That's what the fund has been put aside for.” The Liberal Democrats have opposed the use of the money for the development of the relief road case.
Cllr David Naghi, who is also vehemently against the Invicta Park barracks redevelopment, said: “Our main concern is that it seems a lot of money to set aside for something that may not happen.”
Last October, Cllr Cooke called for a slice of a £1bn windfall from the abandoned phase of the HS2 project to be earmarked for the Leeds to Langley relief road.
He added: “A relief road is very much needed.”
‘I have been in favour of a relief road for years’