Object

Representation ID: 10513

Received: 29/07/2022

Respondent: National Highways

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

Supporting Documentation - Infrastructure Development Plan & Funding
The Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP) aims to set out the infrastructure required
to accommodate this anticipated growth and how this is to be delivered. Appendix C
of the IDP lists 43 road schemes with a cost of £242.5m.
18 Transport Schemes are listed within the IDP (Table3-1), 8 are related to the SRN,
5 are related to rail, bus or active travel and 5 are solely related to the Local Road
Network (LRN).
The IDP states three of the schemes are committed and planned. 2 of these schemes
are related to Rail but one is related to the SRN which is the A428 Black Cat to Caxton
Gibbet roundabout. At this stage the EWR project is still subject to a Statutory
Development Consent Order process, so there is some uncertainty with its delivery
at this time.
Appendix C of the IDP outlines the Project Schedule for all infrastructure
requirements. The table in the appendix outlines the infrastructure category, scheme
description and the associated costs. The table also identifies the secured funding
and the funding gaps for each scheme. The figures presented exclude a number of
large schemes which serve a wide geographical area beyond Bedford Borough.
The IDP delivery strategy indicates that it is highly unlikely that the 10,400 dwellings
could come forward without key transport mitigation schemes being in place prior to
or at the very early phases of development. The key transport infrastructure is judged
to directly support the delivery of eight of the largest development sites (four housing
and four employment). These sites support a total of 10,400 dwellings and
approximately 8,300 jobs.
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There is a significant funding gap which at present equates to around 83.4% of the
total estimated project costs. National Highways has concerns that this will have a
significant impact on the delivery of the spatial strategy.
In the event that funding is constrained, National Highways would wish to see
sensitivity transport modelling tests undertaken to understand the consequences, and
to ensure a suitable package of affordable interventions which can mitigate any
impact on the operation and resilience of the SRN can be identified.
National Highways therefore would welcome the opportunity to work closely with the
Council on any required modelling, prioritisation of projects and the exploration of
specific combination of funding sources is likely to be most appropriate in each
instance.