Agenda item

To consider a report and recommendations by the Head of Development regarding the development and delivery of the A14 scheme.

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 Cabinet received a further update report (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) on progress with the development of the A14 on matters surrounding the Examination in Public and documentation that the Council will submit to the Examination.

The Council had 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 was vital to the continued economic prosperity of Huntingdonshire. 

The Cabinet was advised that the formal Examination in Public had commenced for a six month duration and the Joint Local Impact Report of the Council, together with other Tier 1 stakeholders, had been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by the deadline of 15th June 2015.  Prior to the meeting of the Cabinet the Joint Local Impact Report submitted to the Planning Inspectorate had been circulated to the Cabinet.  It was noted by the Transport Team Leader that there were no substantive changes between the version attached as Appendix D in the agenda and version submitted to the Planning Inspectorate other than formatting and typographical amendments.

Officers had continued to negotiate on outstanding matters and whilst progress had been made on many, others remained outstanding and had yet to be resolved.  The Cabinet were referred to Appendix B of the officer’s report which listed the outstanding issues.

It was highlighted to the Cabinet that noise continued to be an outstanding issue, as suitable noise mitigation measures were required for those properties adversely affected by noise.  A further outstanding issue related to the future long-term maintenance plan of the Borrow Pits.

The Scheme now proposed continued to include the overall improvements that had consistently been sought, including the removal of the A14 Viaduct within Huntingdon.  The Council therefore must continue to engage in the Examination process and in order to do this the Cabinet were requested to approve the Joint Local Impact Report, the draft Statement of Common Ground and the Written Representation by the Council to the Planning Inspectorate.

In the interests of expediency, the Cabinet were also requested to delegate authority to the Managing Director and the Executive Councillor for Planning and Housing Strategy regarding any minor amendments required to the documents.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Hayward was invited to address the Cabinet.  Councillor Hayward explained that his presence at the meeting was not of a personal nature, but to offer alternative suggestions to the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme from Buckden Parish Council.  The alternative suggestions included a solution to negate the need for Borrow Pits to enable the re-alignment of the A1, a footpath to Grafham Water, extension of the cycle lane and footpath from Mere Lane to Brampton Wood and retention of the viaduct.  At the conclusion of his presentation the Cabinet asked questions of Councillor Hayward.

In further response the Transport Team Leader explained that within the Cambridgeshire County Council Mineral and Waste Plan, material from the Borrow Pits had been allocated to the A14 project, although not all of the material required for construction would be able to be obtained from the Borrow Pits.  Alternative routes had been considered and the current option was regarded as the best option.  The condition of the viaduct had been part of the evidence submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. Traffic figures had not been supplied by Cambridgeshire County Council for alternative schemes but would be made available if the Planning Inspectorate requested the information.  The Cabinet were referred to Table 1 within Section 8 of the Joint Local Impact Report which provided a forecast of the traffic flow on various locations of the A1 and A14 in 2035 both with and without the A14 improvements.

The Transport Team Leader noted that the A14 was a significant contributory factor to the air quality issue in Huntingdon.  The removal of the A14 viaduct would result in an improvement to air quality and reduce the vehicle movements through Godmanchester.  Currently Godmanchester received 18,000 vehicles per day and with the viaduct removed this would decrease to 9,000 vehicles per day.  Cambridgeshire County Council had formally resolved that it would not proceed with the A14 improvements without the removal of the viaduct.

During its debate the Cabinet enquired whether further expansion would be possible, it was explained that no expansion was designed within the proposed scheme other than at Bar Hill.

Reference was made to the Joint Local Impact Report regarding developments at Alconbury Weald and Wyton Airfield.  The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme would provide some relief to traffic problems in Huntingdon, Godmanchester, Brampton and St Ives but new transport links would still be required to cater for the level of new development.  Therefore the Cambridgeshire Long-Term Transport Strategy would need to ensure infrastructure was in place to accommodate new development.

It was agreed that the current A14 improvement scheme was better than previously proposed.  The Cabinet considered the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environmental Well-Being) and it was further noted that the Cabinet would be updated when information was available regarding the transportation route that construction traffic would use. 

In conclusion the Cabinet,

RESOLVED

To 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.

At the conclusion of the above item, at 8.05pm, Councillor Hayward left the room and did not return to the meeting.