Decision details

That the Cabinet approve:

i)  The Joint Local Impact Report of the Council together with other Tier 1 stakeholders, namely Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council,

ii)  The (Draft) Statement of Common Ground between the Council and Highways England,

iii)  The Written Representation of the Council to be submitted to the A14 Examination in Public,

iv)  That, in the interests of expediency, delegated authority be given to the Managing Director and the Executive Councillor for Planning and Housing Strategy relating to the agreement of any required minor amendments to the Joint Local Impact Report, the (Draft) Statement of Common Ground and the Written Representation and other such documents as necessary.

The Council has consistently supported the need for the improvement of the A14 since the Cambridge to Huntingdon Multi-Modal Study recommendations in 2001 as an upgraded A14 is vital to the continued economic prosperity of Huntingdonshire. 

The Scheme now proposed continues to include the overall improvements that have been consistently sought, including the removal of the A14 Viaduct within Huntingdon.  The Council therefore needs to engage in the Examination process and submit the Written Representation, Joint Local Impact Report and Statement of Common ground to the Planning Inspectorate.

The Council also needs to continue to negotiate on the Outstanding Issues contained within the Written Representation and seek to reach an agreement on as many of these as possible, and that any outstanding issues are considered through the Examination process.   

None considered.

The Council entered into an agreement with the Secretary of State for Transport on 30th October 2014 relating to its contribution of £5 million towards the project, including the agreed timeline under which contributions will be made.

In accordance with the agreement, and within two months of the opening date  for the Main Improvement Scheme (due December 2019), the first payment of £200,000 will be made, followed by 24 equal payments of £200,000 per annum (by 30th January each year) over a maximum period of 25 years.