£100m Spalding Relief Road gets council backing

The first two sections of the £100 million Spalding Western Relief Road have been backed by Lincolnshire County Council.

Councillors on the authority’s planning committee approved the project which would see both the northern and southern sections built.

They go from the B1172 Spalding Common into a new Holland Park Sustainable Urban Extension being build 1.2km away and from the B1356 Spalding Road running parallel for 1km along Vernatt’s Drain.

But the final decision on the road could be made by the Secretary of State after people asked the government to call it in.

Concern was raised by objectors over only part of the relief road being approved by the council.

The proposed £100 million Spalding Relief Road. Picture: Lincolnshire County Council.

The central section of the relief road are currently under consultation after the council decided to look again at the plans.

Meanwhile, James Avery, speaking on behalf of Pinchbeck Parish Council, raised further concern about how sections of the road would be funded.

“The road relies heavily on developers for contributions,” he said.

“This I feel is a get out of jail free card.”

Vice chair of the committee, Councillor Tom Ashton, said he sympathised with concerns over the relief road being partly built, but added that “these things have to start somewhere”.

Karen Cassar, assistant director of highways, said work is expected to start on the northern section of the road later this year.

“Now that these two planning applications have been given the go-ahead by the planning committee, we’re one step closer to making a start building the new relief road.

“We’ll now sit tight while the Secretary of State reviews the applications and makes a decision about whether or not to call them in,” she said.

“We haven’t been given a timeframe for this process, but hope it will be resolved quickly.

Protestors against the Spalding Western Relief Road’s central section outside South Holland District Council’s offices. Photo: supplied.

“If we receive a positive response from government, we’ll carry on with completing detailed design and obtaining legal orders, with a view to breaking ground on the north section this winter and the south section in 2022.”

Meanwhile, in May South Holland District Council offered no objections to the plans, despite opposition from campaigners and councillors who said the two sections would effectively create cul-de-sacs which would “cripple” traffic for the next ten years.

The central section of the project caused controversy back in February when the county council was forced to apologise for failing to notify residents who live in direct route of the road.

People said they had been “left in limbo” by the project, while one resident said the council would have to “tow him out with a chain and a bulldozer”if plans go ahead.

The council later revealed it was looking at alternative routes to be decided at the end of summer.

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