Spiralling cost of Melton bypass casts further doubt on it being built

That was the message from Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton this morning (Friday) as cabinet members were told that the overall cost of the North East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road (NE MMDR) has spiralled from the original £63.5million to at least £106million due to sharply rising inflation.

Serious doubt was cast on whether the scheme would still go ahead earlier this week when County Hall revealed its ‘terrifying’ financial status in which it highlighted the need to make major cuts in its budget to avoid the authority becoming bankrupt.

One of the projects under threat is the NE MMDR, the council confirmed, with the need to prioritise its diminishing resources on vulnerable residents across the county.

The government has pledged to contribute £49.5million towards the cost of the relief road but the huge increase in the cost of building it means the council would have to massively increase its own spending on the scheme.

Councillor Rushton told today’s cabinet meeting: “The only solution is for the Department for Transport to give us more money.

"This £49.5million was a figure they had years ago.

"We need to explain to them how exceedingly important this road is to Melton Mowbray and to Melton Mowbray’s Local Plan, with all the houses that are being built around this road.

"There is no way we can afford to fund a £50million shortfall in my view.”

Councillor Ozzy O’Shea contributed: "The council needs to get an up-to-date target cost from the developer – we all know inflation is running high and at the present time material costs are running at 20 per cent inflation.

“The worry I have as a cabinet member for highways is where we are going to get the funding from with the state of the council at this present time?

"We’ve got diligent, dedicated officers working for us in highways and across the council but they can’t and do not have a magic money tree.”

Despite the new concerns over the affordability of building the partial bypass, the cabinet approved submitting a full business case for it to the government.

They were told that getting the business case approved would strengthen their case for asking for more funding towards the road.

Ann Carruthers, the council’s director of environment and transport, told the meeting an up-to-date cost for the NE MMDR would be known next month and she added: “We are confident with this particular scheme that, even with cost increases, it will still represent high value for money.”

The council decided to write to Melton MP Alicia Kearns to ask her to lobby for more government funding towards building the road.

The initial £49.5million government funding was confirmed in July 2018 and then in April this year the council announced that the overall had risen to £85.3million.

A report which went before the cabinet this morning indicated that rising inflation now meant the cost was at least £106million and it could well be higher than that as well.