No immediate prospect of funding for southern relief road

That was the response of Leicestershire County Council during a media briefing on the authority’s new budget proposals.

The North East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road (NEMMDR) is more than 50 per cent complete with an estimated opening date of early 2026.

It will connect the A606 Nottingham Road to the north with the A606 Burton Road to the south after passing east of the town along a 7.1km single carriageway route.

It was hoped that a southern section would take traffic from Burton Road to the A607 Leicester Road.

The government’s Homes England body had agreed to pay £18.5million towards the original £27.5million cost of the south link, with County Hall forward funding most of the remainder before recouping the cash from developers building houses in the south of the town.

However, the price of the southern section has since risen sharply to around £61.4million and the cash-strapped county council is reluctant to commit further funds to it at present due to its perilous financial position. It is facing a potential £95million budget gap by 2029 despite making major savings to cope with increasing costs and demands on services.

At the media briefing on the budget, the Melton Times asked acting leader, Councillor Deborah Taylor, whether there would be money available for a south section of the NEMMDR and she replied: “There is no money in the budget for a south link to the bypass at present.

"We are working with developers and money may be available when all the planned houses are built south of the town.

"The cost of the MMDR is already well above budget.

"We are hoping there will be some form of south link but it won't be what was originally hoped for.”

The original cost of the NEMMDR was £63.5million but it then soared to just over £125million due to inflation and sharply rising construction costs. And in September it was revealed that the total cost had gone up again by around another £17million.

The previous Conservative government agreed to fund £49.5million towards the project but there has been no indication since of any further funds being made available for the north and east sections.