HEREFORD’S southern link road plan is in a jam – just 24 hours after Herefordshire Council confirmed that a planning application for the route had been submitted.

The Hereford Transport Forum (HTF) has launched a petition calling on the council and “unelected” Marches Local Enterprise Partnership to stop the “deeply flawed” SC2 scheme.

John Perkins, of HTF, said confirmation of the planning application has galvanized opposition to the £25 million route - between the A465 to the A49 and B4349 - beyond the council chamber.

“This scheme will do nothing to relieve traffic through Hereford as it is presented to the public - the participants are at odds with themselves.

“It is to unlock land, much of which is owned by the council, for the wholesale industrialisation of South Herefordshire with roads, industrial buildings and cheap housing.

“It fails to meet even the stated requirements of participants in the scheme, or the Highways Agency (HA) as alternative measures outlined by the agency have not been tried and were missed from the council presentations.

“Proper consultation has not taken place, to the extent that at least one retired couple we know of were the last to know that an add on to the scheme is due to go through the middle of their garden,” said Mr Perkins.

In April last year, the HA backed away from offering formal support to both the link road and a future western bypass.

Then, campaigners said this countered any official justification the council claims for pressing ahead with the projects.

As reported by the Hereford Times, the issue arose out of comments made by the then council leader councillor Tony Johnson in an interview relating to the Department of Transport (DoT) setting limits to traffic movement on the A49 and the “threat” that posed to development at Rotherwas without new roads .

Campaigners seized on what  they claimed was discrepancy between Cllr Johnson’s comments and the official line from the HA, which manages the road network for the DoT.

They said answers from the HA confirm the agency as not specifically requiring the western bypass to be built, not setting traffic movement limits on the A49 south of the city and  not conducting any transport modelling associated with the proposed A49 to A465 link road.

In response, the HA issued a statement to the Hereford Times saying: "This is a Herefordshire Council proposal and as such completely a matter for them at this time."

As reported by the Hereford Times yesterday (Thurs), the application for SC2 – a top priority for the majority group – to  Herefordshire Council planners.

Running between the A49 and  A465 - with a link to B4349 - SC2 is  part of a package of measures proposed to address congestion and delay in South Wye while easing access to the Hereford Enterprise Zone at Rotherwas.

Formal consultation over the route is due to start next week following validation and registration of the application.

If all goes ahead, the application could be determined by September to be built by 2018.

In December, the previous minority Tory administration stood by SC2 as the favoured option for  the route despite concerns from the then overview and scrutiny committee that the selection process could have breached the council’s own rules.

The then cabinet rejected such concerns citing the “satisfaction” of council officers and outside consultants at the potential for the process to withstand procedural challenge.

A report to cabinet recommended renewed support for SC2 as appraised “appropriately and in accordance with” relevant national guidelines.

The same “satisfaction” applied to the financial case for the road after an assessment by the council’s chief finance officer.

Route appraisal and related consultation was estimated to have cost £505,000 over the past financial year - funded through the council’s revenue budget for the scheme.

Confirmation of SC2 as the preferred route enabled the council to capitalise the cost of preparing a planning application and the future costs of completing the detailed design, land and construction requirements.

It is anticipated that these capital costs associated with the scheme to remain on programme will amount to £600,000 found through the council’s transport funding, pending any draw down of government funding.

The council has already been warned that SC2 could end in court at judicial review.

But the previous cabinet put its faith in legal advice given to the council’s own project consultants Parsons Brinkerhoff  that said the process was sufficient.

There are no indications that a new cabinet will waver from this line.

As proposed, SC2  leaves the A49 to pass through the centre of Grafton Wood and continue westwards over Grafton Lane and Withy Brook before veering north-west to a proposed new roundabout near the A465/B4349 junction.

Much of the political opposition is against the route as opposed to the building of a road.

SC2 was recommended to cabinet on the basis of a route options appraisal by  Parsons Brinkerhoff.

The resulting report found four of the initial eight options represented “feasible  solutions” with the other four sifted out due to environmental considerations.

Public consultation took place in July / August where the results of the four route appraisal of these four routes were set out and feedback was invited.

Following consideration of  this feedback detailed appraisal of  a number of alternative alignments took place.

Cabinet was told that the council’s own project team has reviewed the resulting report and is “satisfied” with its conclusions and the highest score being given to SC2.

SC2 also scored highly in the public consultation and legal advice suggest the appraisal process - to date - is sound enough to go up against objections.

The route is also a projected £1 million-£1.6 million cheaper than the other options.

More detail on the petition at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-herefordshire-southern-link-road or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hereford-Transport-Forum/465392443573031