Purpose of Report
To update the Executive on progress since securing planning consent in January 2022 and to seek authority to proceed with the next stages of the delivery of the Western Growth Corridor (WGC) development, including:
- Starting the procurement process for the design and build of the Tritton Road bridges and spine road that would complete the transport infrastructure through the site, so that delivery timescales could be met should funding for the Tritton Road bridges from Levelling Up Fund Round 2 (LUF2) be secured; and
- The use of Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) powers to enable delivery of Phase 1a of the development.
Decision
1. That procurement by officers be commenced on the Tritton Road bridges and Spine Road so that the Council would still be able to meet the timescales involved in delivering the LUF2 funding requirements should the Council be awarded and accept any funding offer made.
2. That the Council uses compulsory purchase powers to acquire the two identified strips of unregistered land to enable the commencement of the opening-up infrastructure works of Phase 1a of the Western Growth Corridor development.
3. That the power to override third party rights and easements under section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2003 be authorised.
4. That authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Major Developments and the City Solicitor to approve the final form of the application and use of the required compulsory purchase order powers and the decisions about the extent of the land or rights over land to be acquired provided that these were necessary for the purposes of delivering Western Growth Corridor and were within the area identified on the plan, as detailed at Appendix A of the report.
5. That progress to date and the activities outlined in the report to further progress the scheme be supported.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected
None.
Reason for Decision
The Western Growth Corridor (WGC) represented one of four sustainable urban extension (SUE) areas around Lincoln identified and promoted in the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan for development to meet the area’s growth projections up to 2036. It was the closest SUE to the city centre and had the greatest opportunity to achieve real sustainability both within the development and for the surrounding communities. It was the major area for housing and employment growth in the city itself and a key part of delivering Lincoln’s Growth Strategy over the next 20 years.
The Central Lincolnshire Local Plan adopted in April 2017 following a robust and thorough examination had now approved the principle for development of the site. Having established the principle of development, the next stage was to consider the key building blocks of the development at a broad rather than a detailed level. The Local Plan allocation was for a new neighbourhood of 3,200 new homes (20% affordable), twenty hectares of commercial/employment space, a new Leisure Village, improvements in accessibility and range of green space, flood mitigation improvements, remediation of the former tip and a range of improved connectivity (roads, cycle paths and pedestrian routes).
The City Council was a significant landowner (owning about 60% of the site included within the proposed masterplan area) and had been leading on bringing forward development of the area in a viable, sustainable and deliverable way since 2016. WGC represented a key priority within the City Council’s Vision 2025 (and Vision 2020 before that) and delivered across all the Council’s priorities and objectives. It was also the single biggest development area within the City boundary.
The remaining development land on WGC was owned by Lindum Western Growth Community Limited (LWGC), a subsidiary of the locally owned and based construction / development company Lindum Group. Together the Council and LWGC had submitted a planning application for the whole development on 3 April 2019.
Outline planning consent for the wider scheme and detailed consent for the two main access points into the development at Skellingthorpe Road and Tritton Road was obtained on 20 January 2022.
The government had launched a second round of Levelling-Up Funding on 23 March 2022 for large-scale capital schemes that delivered infrastructure to improve everyday life of residents and help to drive economic success and prosperity. The City Council in conjunction with Karl McCartney, as the local Member of Parliament, had submitted a LUF2 capital funding bid on 2 August 2022 for £20million to enable the accelerated delivery of the overbridge linking the development into Tritton Road, providing the much-needed alternative route to and from the city centre that avoided the rail level-crossing on Skellingthorpe Road. The outcome of the bid was expected later in 2022.
If successful, the funding would see an all vehicular/cycle/pedestrian bridge over the railway from the development into Tritton Road and a pedestrian/cycle bridge replacing the existing pedestrian rail crossing at Oak Farm (opposite the new LN6 development). A plan showing the location of the bridges was attached at Appendix E to the report. The funding would enable the bridge to be delivered in 2025 which would be significantly ahead of the original date, to open-up more housing and accelerate the overall development to further minimise short-term negative impacts of the development on the existing communities.
The Council and LWGC worked jointly together as the two landowners (the developer team) to shape and progress the development including jointly commissioning work from expert consultants, identifying funding and financing opportunities, reviewing viability and delivery.
The developer team had continued to review the overall scheme viability and deliverability. Opportunities to secure further funding to accelerate delivery particularly of the main infrastructure through the site that opened-up further housing development were being actively pursued. The inflation cost pressures and uncertainty in the economy generally and specifically the cost and availability of construction materials and housing market issues had remained a concern. A range of options were being explored and developed to mitigate the impact of this on the ability to start on site and would be covered in a report to the Executive in the coming months.