A key milestone in securing the new Carlisle Southern Link Road has been reached today following the submission of the planning application.
Following extensive public consultation and numerous different environmental surveys along the proposed route of the new Carlisle Southern Link Road (CSLR), Cumbria County Council have now submitted the planning application.
After a competitive process against a number of other councils bidding for funding, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed in February this year that they would grant £102m to the county council for the £112m CSLR scheme.
The second of two phases of public consultation was held between 31 May and 12 July, where the public and other stakeholders were invited to view the latest scheme design and make suggestions for improvements. Overwhelmingly 77% of those who responded to the consultation said that they strongly support or support the scheme that has been developed.
All the feedback received to date has now been considered and further design work carried out to prepare the design, which is now being submitted for the planning application. The consultation report and a summary of how comments received at the public consultation have been addressed are now available on the CSLR website www.cumbria.gov.uk/cslr
Substantial data collection including ground investigation, topographical surveys and ecological surveys have all been undertaken to inform the design and an Environmental Statement has been prepared as part of the planning application submission.
Councillor Keith Little, Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport said: “The submission of the planning application marks a key milestone towards delivery of the Carlisle Southern Link Road. It’s another exciting step towards creating this new strategic road that will provide significant benefits, not just for Carlisle, but the whole county, helping to unlock both housing and economic growth.
“I’m delighted with the level of responses we had to the public consultation as it’s so important that local people have had the chance to have their say, so that together we can make the scheme the best scheme it can be.”
MP for Carlisle, John Stevenson added: “It is testament to the growing success of Carlisle that the City has received over £100 million from the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund. I am pleased that Cumbria County Council have now submitted the planning application for the Southern Link Road. This scheme will reduce congestion throughout Carlisle, build the new infrastructure which will support the development of the St. Cuthbert’s Garden Village and help Carlisle to continue to grow as a City”.
The new link road will support the development of St Cuthbert’s Garden Village. The ambitious Carlisle City Council scheme will deliver approximately 10,000 new homes, community infrastructure and employment opportunities bringing significant benefits to the city and the wider county. The link road also aims to reduce congestion within and around the city, improve travel within Carlisle, and enhance links to west Cumbria.
Providing the planning permission is granted, construction work is expected to start in 2021 for a two year period.
The public can view the planning application document via the planning website: https://planning.cumbria.gov.uk/Planning/Display/1/19/9012 application reference: 1/19/9012 and will be open for people to comment on until Monday 18 November 2019.
