South Gloucestershire Council has stated that it is "committed" to completing a road link to the M49 'ghost junction' with £7m of funding it has secured from the Department for Transport. Last week, plans were revealed to buy the remaining land required to build a 160-metre road that will connect the motorway roundabout to the local network, although the council has disclosed it does not know who owns one of the plots needed to finish the job.
Located between Severn Beach and Chittening, National Highways spent £40m to £50m building the M49 junction, which was finished in 2020. It was intended to provide easy access to the nearby Severnside industrial estates and huge nearby distribution centres, including Amazon, Tesco and Lidl.
However, adjoining land issues were not resolved prior to construction, and since 2020 the junction has languished incomplete and unconnected to local roads. South Gloucestershire Council says it has now submitted a planning application for a new M49 junction link road to allow direct access from the Severnside industrial and enterprise area to the motorway to help relieve congestion.
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As well as building the link road, it will also make improvements to an adjacent cycle path which is part of the National Cycle Network. Construction work is due to start on site later in 2023, with the council claiming it is working closely with stakeholders to progress the new link road "as quickly as possible".
The work is expected to last around 12 months, but the council warned that this timeframe could be subject to change depending on how the planning process and land ownership discussions progress. Councillor Steve Reade, the cabinet member with responsibility for planning and transport, said: “We remain committed to getting this link road built, and this planning application is an important milestone to getting this done.
“Once constructed, the new link road will relieve congestion, making South Gloucestershire roads safer and provide vital access to help realise the economic potential of the Avonmouth Severnside Enterprise Area.” Whilst the council has said it will continue its negotiations with the respective landowners to complete the work, it will consider authorising compulsory purchase orders (CPO) at a meeting on February 10.
A report to cabinet said that CPOs would be used only as a “last resort”, but it is “highly unlikely” that the scheme can be finished without them. The report also named the landowners for the first time and revealed the extent of the difficulty in obtaining permissions to the various land parcels, verges, wasteland and drains - some as tiny as two square metres – that belong to different entities, two of which are companies registered in Jersey.
The report said: “The council considers that CPO powers will be necessary to enable the assembly of the land required. The council believes that the public benefits would outweigh the private losses and that, on that basis, there is a clear and compelling case in the public interest which would justify the use of compulsory purchase powers.
“Whilst it is anticipated that further progress can be made on the negotiations for some parcels of and interests in land, the number of land interests involved and the presence of land interests will very likely mean that not all interests can be acquired by agreement. The council has actively engaged or sought to engage with all known freehold owners, lessees, tenants and occupiers of the CPO land on an individual basis throughout the development process to date.
“This is an ongoing process in which landowners have engaged positively. These discussions will continue wherever possible, hopefully limiting the number of interests over which compulsory purchase powers will need to be exercised.
“However, given the council’s need to deliver the scheme within a specified timescale and given the number of interests required and the related scope of negotiations, the council has concluded it is highly unlikely it will be able to deliver the scheme within this timescale without the CPO. In addition, one plot is in unregistered ownership and therefore cannot be acquired by agreement; in these cases, proceeding by way of compulsory purchase is the only route open to the council.”
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