Purpose

To provide an update on progress on the Blyth
Relief Road project in advance of the planning application
submission.

Content

RESOLVED
that Cabinet:-
 
a)       note progress to
date on the Blyth Relief Road project;
 
b)      
approve submission of the refreshed Outline Business Case to the
Department for Transport for review and approval following approval
of the Council budget in February 2025;
 
c)      
delegate authority to the Executive Director for Place and
Regeneration to authorise submission of the planning application to
the Local Planning Authority on completion of the necessary
documentation;
 
d)      
approve £0.720m of capital expenditure to enable detailed
design and development of the scheme and preparation of the
planning application documentation to progress during 2024/25 to be
funded from the virement of £0.720m of Local Transport Plan
funds for schemes that were due to be delivered in 2024/25 but
which are now being re-programmed for delivery in
2025/26;
 
e)      
approve the proposed inclusion of a £5.006m match funding
allocation within the Council’s proposed MTFP, to be funded
from Strategic Management Reserve for the period 2025/26 to
2027/28, which will be considered by the County Council when
setting its overall budget in February 2025, and for £0.650m
of this funding to be used to continue progressing the scheme to
‘shovel-ready’ status by the end of December 2025, to
maintain the overall delivery programme for this strategically
important project. This will bring the Council’s total
contribution to the project to £8.963 million, representing
15% of the estimated scheme cost; and
 
f)        approves the
updating of the capital programme as set out in 10.9 Table
1.