Decision details

Surrey County Council accepts the funding award of £41.8 million for the A320 North of Woking Housing Infrastructure Fund Forward Funding scheme from the Housing Infrastructure Fund allocated by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, subject to Surrey County Council accepting all grant conditions as set by Homes England.

The scheme be moved from pipeline to capital budget and that funds be released for further scheme development prior to receiving the Infrastructure Fund allocation.

Delegate any further decisions relating to this project to the Executive Director Environment, Transport and Infrastructure in consultation with the Deputy Leader.

RESOLVED:

1.    That an appropriate and suitable design consultancy be appointed to undertake the preliminary design work, with an estimated cost of £0.73m incurred by Surrey County Council, in advance of a full funding agreement being entered into with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.

2.    That a further report be brought to Cabinet in September 2020 regarding progress with the terms and conditions of the funding agreement and to seek full approval for the scheme.

3.    That authority be given to officers to commence early discussions with landowners with respect to the acquisition of third-party land, it being understood that this may need to progress to compulsory purchase where necessary, which would be subject to both the signing of the Funding Agreement by the Council and a further Cabinet Member resolution.

Reason for decision:

The decisions recommended will enable the early work to develop the project to commence in a way that will ensure that the project has the best opportunity to meet the challenging HIF spend timetable of March 2024. It will also enable some of the currently identifiable risks to be better understood and mitigated before Cabinet are asked for a decision for SCC to give full approval for the scheme and to sign the proposed funding agreement.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee]