A2 off-slip at Wincheap, Canterbury

The project will deliver the missing off-slip to the A28 from the southbound A2. Creation of this slip road will provide an alternative route for traffic currently approaching Canterbury from the A2 via Harbledown and the ring road. Delivery of the project is intended to remove traffic from Wincheap, reduce congestion on the Canterbury ring road and relieve pressure on the existing southbound off slip at Harbledown. The new off-slip will also provide improved access to an expanded Park and Ride site to the east of the A2/A28 Wincheap junction and to the Wincheap Industrial Estate. The delivery of the off-slip forms parts of a wider scheme delivering improvements through Wincheap, including a new relief road, gyratory and traffic management scheme.  This package of works is required to improve the connectivity between the new off-slip and the town centre. Whilst the project will help to tackle existing congestion issues, the improvements are required to enable the delivery of 1,150 new homes, business space and community facilities at two strategic development sites in Thanington Park and Cockering Farm to the west of the A2/A28 junction.

Project update

The project was considered by Accountability Board on 12th April 2019 and the decision was made to remove the project from the LGF programme. Given the nature of the project, a Business Case covering the delivery of the wider package of measures in Wincheap, including the new relief road, gyratory and traffic management scheme, was requested. Project development work has been completed towards the overall package of measures.  However, it has not been possible for the scheme promoter to bring forward a robust Business Case, which demonstrates high value for money, within the required timetable due to the need to wait for a decision on a Growth and Housing Fund bid submitted to Highways England for the delivery of the off-slip.  The scheme promoter was not notified until December 2018 that the application to Highways England had not been successful. It is also unclear whether it would be feasible to deliver the project within the Growth Deal period, given the scale of interventions proposed. Despite the removal of the project from the LGF programme it is expected that the A2 off-slip at Wincheap will still be delivered, and will be funded through developer contributions.  This will deliver the intended benefits of the project enabling the delivery of residential and commercial development in Thanet. The £4.4m of LGF funding which was provisionally allocated to the project will be reallocated to LGF3b pipeline projects.

£579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock

In total the SELEP Growth Deal with Government has brought £579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock. Over the lifetime of the Growth Deal (2015-2021) we aim to deliver 78,000 jobs and 29,000 homes across the SELEP area, with the Deal set to attract a further £960m of investment into the South East over the six year period.

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