To confirm making of the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) and Side Roads Order (SRO) and to approve commencing the procurement of a contractor for the Southern Link Road (SLR).

The cabinet member infrastructure introduced the report. He referred to the decision of cabinet made on 20 October 2016 which agreed in principle the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) and Side Roads Orders (SRO), if required, for the acquisition of land along the route of the Southern Link Road (SLR). The cabinet member reported that negotiations with landowners were progressing fairly well but it was felt that arrangements for CPOs and SROs should now be put in place to avoid future delays in the delivery of the project.

The report also recommended the establishment and implementation of a procurement strategy to inform a decision on the awarding of a contract for the construction of the SLR.

The leader of the council queried what the total cost would be. The head of infrastructure delivery responded that financial implications were set out in report as being £1.8m estimated cost for land acquisition and compensation, £500k for the CPO / SRO public enquiry process and £150k for the procurement process to cover profession fees to produce tender documents, manage the tender process and undertake detailed reviews of the submitted tenders.

The cabinet member for transport and roads asked how negotiations were faring in respect of acquiring land. It was confirmed that the council was in contact with all relevant landowners and had made offers to each of them. Officers were pleased with the progress that had been made and were hopeful that negotiations would be concluded with all landowners. However the CPO process needed to run alongside the ongoing negotiations to give certainty to timescales.

The cabinet member for finance, housing and ICT asked whether the legal costs for the CPO would be paid up front or paid along the process of the CPOs. He asked whether costs would reduce if negotiated settlements were reached with landowners.

The head of infrastructure delivery confirmed that the costs were those that the council would incur if it went through a CPO process including legal support to defend and make the council’s case for the scheme, the costs of setting up an inquiry locally and the costs of the independent inspector appointed to hear the CPO inquiry. The more objections there were to a CPO then the longer and more complex the inquiry would be which would have an impact on costs. There would still be some legal costs if all land was acquired by negotiation.

The leader of the its our county group confirmed that he had submitted the views of his group in writing prior to the meeting and thanked the cabinet member and officers for their responses. He queried the claim that there had been no overspend on the city link road. He also queried the status of funding from the Marches LEP growth deal for the south wye transport package citing a lack of clarity as to whether this was a loan or not. Reference had been made in documents to paying back the £1.7m allocated, although the earlier correction confirming that the sum was to be reprofiled not repaid was noted. The chief finance officer agreed to provide a written response.

The leader of the green group asked for assurance that when the package of documents was sent to the secretary of state, the background to the claims in paragraph 13 of the report would be available to the public. She also sought assurance that individuals would not be disenfranchised or put out in terms of the value of their property if the business case did not go ahead.

The cabinet member for infrastructure confirmed that the process would follow government guidelines about who received compensation and for what.

The leader of the independent group asked what the level of risk was that the CPOs and SROs not be agreed by the secretary of state.

The head of infrastructure delivery responded that previous uses of CPOs by Herefordshire council had been successful. Mitigation of the risk would involve setting out a robust case for the road.

The leader of the liberal democrat group stated that he had always been supportive of the western route for the bypass. He warned that past experience had shown that the costs of CPOs could spiral beyond the estimate. He expressed concern over the lack of clarity regarding the funding from the Marches LEP.

The leader of the council stated that the source of the money was a grant via the LEP. Reprofiling of such grants usually related to circumstances where the rate of work varied or there was another call on LEP funds.

The head of infrastructure delivery confirmed that the grant secured for the SWTP remained unchanged at £27m. The council had drawn down some funding earlier than originally planned and the discussions referenced related to the reprofiling of the grant as a consequence of that early drawn down. This was expected to be the subject of further discussions with the LEP.

Resolved that:

(a)  the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to arrange for the making of the County of Herefordshire District Council (South Wye Transport Package – Southern Link Road) Compulsory Purchase Order 2017 pursuant to sections 239, 240, 246, 250 and 260 of the Highways Act 1980 and the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 for the acquisition of the land interests and new rights within the areas coloured pink and blue respectively shown on the plan attached at appendix A (subject to any minor or technical amendments to the said plan as the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate considers) and for compensation payments to be made in accordance with the relevant legislation;

(b)  the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to arrange for the making of the County of Herefordshire District Council (South Wye Transport Package – Southern Link Road) Side Road Order 2017 under Section 14 and 125 of the Highways Act 1980 as shown in the plan attached at Appendix B (subject to any final amendments of the said plan the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate considers necessary);

(c)  the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to arrange for the making of the Compulsory Purchase Order and the Side Road Order and to take all the necessary and ancillary steps, including the publication and service of all statutory notices and the presentation of the Councils case at any public inquiry, to secure the confirmation of the orders by the Secretary of State;

(d)  the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to implement the Orders, including the acquisition of all necessary land and interests and new rights, and to pay compensation including acquisitions agreed by negotiation and to carry out any other additional steps needed for the implementation of the Orders for the Southern Link Road;

(e)  the Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate be authorised to take all operational decisions necessary to establish and implement a procurement strategy to inform and enable a decision to award a contract to the best value tender for the construction of the SLR within a budget up to £150,000.