December 4, 2018 11.02 am This story is over 63 months old

Grantham relief road inquiry delayed by ‘admin error’

It wasn’t advertised properly
An aerial view of the ongoing Grantham Southern Relief Road. Photo: Lincolnshire County Council

An “administrative error” has delayed a public inquiry into the £81 million Grantham Southern Relief Road.

Following objections from four public bodies, an inquiry into the Lincolnshire County Council project was announced by the Department for Transport.

Proceedings were due to open at Jubilee Church Life Centre in Grantham, on Tuesday.

However, the government’s planning inspector, Martin Whitehead, said he felt he could not open the inquiry due to an error.

Mr Whitehead said no notice of the inquiry had been advertised along the route ahead of the inquiry.

It means proceedings can not go ahead until the inquiry is listed on the route that has been objected to.

“Notice of the inquiry should have been listed along the route no later than two weeks of opening,” he said.

“This has not happened and due to administrative reasons. I am not in a position to open it.”

A new date has not been officially set for the opening of proceedings, but is expected to be agreed for January.

It comes as four objections have been lodged by Network Rail, Zurich, Grantham Motor Company and Western Power Distribution.

The county council said it was “disappointed” with being unable to come to an agreement with the bodies.

Executive county councillor for highways, Richard Davies, previously described the objections as “unacceptable” and “not good enough”.

The project is still expected to go ahead, looking to link the A52 at Somerby Hill to the A1.

SUBSCRIBE TO LOCAL DEMOCRACY WEEKLY, our exclusive email newsletter with highlights from our coverage every week and insights and analysis from our local democracy reporters.