A28 Sturry Link Road

This project will deliver a new link road between the A291 and the A28, to the south west of Sturry, Canterbury.  The LGF funding will contribute to the cost of constructing a bridge over the railway line and the Great Stour river, to enable traffic to avoid the Sturry level crossing and the congested road network in the area.

A spine road will be constructed through a new development site to connect the new bridge with the A291.  This spine road is essential to enable traffic to use the new bridge and will be funded and delivered by the developer.

The overall objective of the project is to tackle the existing congestion problem which currently exists at the Sturry level crossing and at the A28/A291 junction.  The A28 currently carries 20,000 vehicles per day, but with six trains passing per hour, the level crossing is closed for up to 20 minutes per hour during peak periods, causing severe congestion to trips on the A28.  This level of congestion is a major constraint on development to the north east of Canterbury.

Project update

A project update was considered by Accountability Board on 7th June 2019 in line with the requirement for all high risk projects to be considered by the Board before the end of June 2019.

The project update indicated that the most significant project risk is the availability of the private sector funding contributions towards the delivery of the project.  Potential options have been identified to manage the cash flow position and to secure developer contributions which have been identified towards the delivery of the project.  However, there remains a substantial risk, as although all of the sites are allocated in the adopted Local Plan, full planning consent has not yet been granted for any of the main three developers due to financially contribute towards the delivery of the project.

In addition, as the developers are also delivering the spine road to connect the bridge (funded through the LGF) with the existing road network any delays with the construction of the spine road will impact on the opening date for the new bridge.  There is a requirement for the developer to deliver the spine road at the same time as the project.  However, as full planning consent has not yet been granted for the development this presents a risk to deliverability.

Accountability Board agreed that the project should be put on hold until Kent County Council can provide assurances that the local funding package is in place to progress with delivery of the project.  In the interim the £5.9m of LGF funding will remain allocated to the project.  A further update on the project is required at the Accountability Board meeting in September 2019.

£570m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock

In total the SELEP Growth Deal with Government has brought £570m 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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