As has been well publicised, the development at Sturry and to a certain extent Broad Oak, has been the pivotal link in the delivery of CCC’s 2017 local plan.
Building the ‘link road’ and the flyover to avoid Sturry Crossing has been the key to unlock developments further afield. But with a cash-strapped City Council, and a Kent authority with empty pockets, it is down to developers to stump up for the £29.6m* infrastructure.
*According to the Bank of England inflation calculator, now £31.8m
A government funded quango (SELEP) has agreed to pay £5.9m towards the costs. The Sturry developers (see below) will pay £8.8m, and there is a hidden document somewhere that details how the rest is split between the other local developers.
Simple maths?
Maybe, but when you look at the Committee report there seems to be a missing figure.
The first application required the building of 385 houses before the hand over of the bridge funding.
The Broad Oak application states 325 dwellings.
But the application that was approved for Sturry has no mention of the numbers.
I’m sure it is out there somewhere. Perhaps someone might let us know.
Or is there the prospect of 710 new homes and no link road?
SABAG has written to the head of Planning and our local City Councillors for clarification.
In the words of the Daily Express “I think we should be told!”
Here are extracts from the reports:
Committee Report, First Application for Sturry Site
The developer will contribute £8.8m, which will facilitate the construction of the Sturry Link Road. Within the application site there i s also a section of the Sturry Link Road, which is designed to include a 3.5m shared footway/ cycleway southern side of the road with 2m pedestrian only facility on the north. There will also be crossing facilities along the route. KCC Highways are satisfied that the spine road has been appropriately designed to ensure it will operate within capacity and connects appropriately with external connections.
The developer will be required to deliver this prior to the occupation of the 385th dwelling to ensure the delivery of the link road in its entirety. The application also incorporates an access point onto Shalloak Road, sufficient visibility splays have been incorporated to ensure safe access and egress to the application site.
Committee Report, Application, Broad Oak Site
It has been confirmed that occupation of 325 homes on Land at Sturry have been assumed to be built prior to the completion of the Sturry Link Road and that the 325 dwellings are expected to be built by 2024. The development provides appropriate contributions towards the Sturry Link Road making an £8.8m contribution towards the viaduct. Notwithstanding this, it is imperative that the section of the link road through the Sturry application is, where possible, delivered in accordance with the Heads of Terms agreed as part of the Local Plan process. In that process i t was accepted by the HA that some temporary deterioration of highways conditions would need to be tolerated.
Nonetheless, it is the responsibility of the HA to seek to manage and minimise this deterioration in conditions and therefore it is recommended that a S.106 obligation be secured, whereby after the 325th house is occupied, a mechanism is provided to restrict the number of annual occupations at the development until such a time as the Sturry Link Road is open and available.
92. The developer will contribute £8.8m, which will facilitate the construction of the Sturry Link Road. The applicant has agreed a schedule of payments for the road that is linked to the delivery of housing.
KCC as the authority that is to deliver the road, is in agreement with this schedule and the Section 106 agreement will need to address the two scenarios, one of which is that the £5.8 million SELEP grant is secured to part-fund the road and the other scenario in which the SELEP grant is not secured and in which case the developers of both parts of the strategic site will make up the shortfall as an additional contribution. In the second scenario, this additional contribution of £5.8million which would fall to the developers to pay, would result in there being a proportionate reduction i n affordable housing to ensure that the link toad (sic) can be paid for.
37. Prior to the occupation of the 326th dwelling the Sturry Link Road connecting the A28 Sturry Road (south of the Great Stour River close to Southern Water Canterbury Wastewater Treatment Works) and A291 Sturry Hill (north of the railway line, within Sturry) shall be open and available to the public.
REASON: In the interests of highway safety
35. In the event that the Sturry Link Road is not open and available to the public prior to the occupation of the 326th dwelling a restriction on the number of annual occupations thereafter should be agreed with the Highway Authority dependant on the prevailing highway conditions until such time as the Sturry Link Road becomes open and available to the public.
In the recent, approved application…
The developer will contribute £8.8m, which will facilitate the construction of the Sturry Link Road. The applicant has agreed a schedule of payments for the road that is linked to the delivery of housing. KCC as the authority that is to deliver the road, is in agreement with this schedule and the section 106 agreement will need to address the two scenarios, one of which is that the £5.8 million SELEP grant is secured to part-fund the road and the other scenario in which the SELEP grant is not secured and in which case the developers of both parts of the strategic site will make up the shortfall as an additional contribution.
