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Liberal Democrats and Labour gamble on a giant housing development without Government money for new A120 - A133 link road |
DRIVERS face indefinite gridlock on Clingoe Hill after Labour and the Liberal Democrat coalition voted for another 7,500 houses to be built near the university in Colchester without its promised new link road between the A120 and the A133
A road linking the giant development to the A133 was started with a £100m grant but now lies unfinished. The Labour government has so far failed to commit the further £70m needed to finish the road up to the A120.
Conservative Councillor William Sunnucks (Rural North Ward), who pioneered a new infrastructure-first approach to development at Colchester City Council, said: “Colchester now has to suffer the consequences of Labour and Lib Dem coalition’s failure to understand they have just given away the best chance of forcing the Government to fund the road. Times have changed. This development was always meant to be different and to have a new link road open to traffic before the first house was built. Now we risk thousands of houses being built, and being left with a section of road that goes nowhere. A new road would take the pressure off Clingoe Hill.”
Cllr Paul Dundas, Leader of Colchester Conservatives who are the official Opposition at the Town Hall, said: “We hope the gamble works and the money appears because Colchester is stuck otherwise. We’ll just hear more excuses and there’ll be gridlock.”
At a special Full Council meeting on 9th June, a move to force the Government to come up with the money for the link road by delaying the vote on the building of the 7500 houses was defeated by Labour, Greens and the majority of Liberal Democrats.
The meeting heard that the cars from 7,500 houses is likely to double the time that drivers spend in traffic jams on Clingoe Hill unless a new link road is built between the A120 to the A133, and the huge new estate. The extra traffic will also severely impact delays on the city-centre’s roads.
Conservatives advocate that it is common sense to build essential infrastructure before the housing development that it serves.
2025-06-10
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