Nottinghamshire County Council to buy land for major junction upgrades after £16.7m project cost increase

Nottinghamshire County Council will buy 24 plots of land so it can progress with major junction upgrades on two county roads.

The Conservative-led authority plans to buy the land and rights on the A614 and the A6097 as multi-million-pound improvements edge closer.

It’s been progressing with the scheme for several years as a way of boosting the local economy and improving connectivity across the county.

Five key junctions will be improved across the two roads, including enlarging the existing site at the A614 Ollerton roundabout.

Road safety improvements are also promised at the White Post roundabout alongside “geometric improvements” at the A6097/A614 intersection at Warren Hill.

The A6097 roundabout at Lowdham will also be enlarged, while the signalised junction at Kirk Hill in East Bridgford will be extended.

Planning permission has already been granted for the improvements and the council must now ensure it legally owns land.

Now a delegated decision has approved the purchasing of 24 plots of land near two of the five junctions.

Eight plots around Ollerton Roundabout, measuring around 1.3 acres combined, will be bought to enable “carriageway construction, landscaping and habitat provision, new signage and a new bus link”.

Seven further temporary plots, totalling about one acre, will be bought to provide safe working access during construction.

A further four plots totalling 0.914 acres will be permanently bought around the Kirk Hill Junction to enable the construction of a new equestrian crossing.

Five other plots totalling 2.574 acres will be temporarily purchased around Kirk Hill to offer soil storage and safe construction access.

‘Inflated Costs’

In a report, the council said: “Without acquiring the land and rights … the proposed works cannot be delivered.”

The purchases were approved by Cllr Keith Girling (Con), cabinet member for economic development and asset management, during a delegated decision on July 31.

It came just weeks after Cllr Girling confirmed costs for the wider project had risen significantly, leading to a sixth junction being removed from planning.

Further work was also planned at Mickledale Lane, in Bilsthorpe, including a potential new roundabout and link road.

However, costs for this junction rose from £5.8m to £11.8m leading to the June cabinet meeting removing it from the project.

Overall, initial budgets for the wider project were originally £28.6m but increased to £45.3m due to inflation, the war in Ukraine and increased professional service fees.

The Ollerton works also rose from £10.7m to £17.2m and the authority said it needed to remove Mickledale Lane to ensure it could still deliver the major scheme.

This allowed project costs to drop to £34.4m, with £24.3m from the Department for Education, £1.75m in developer contributions and £8.35m from the council.

Speaking in the June cabinet meeting, Cllr Girling confirmed Mickledale Lane is still “strategically in need of improvement” but will be addressed through a separate future project.

He added: “Costs of construction projects have been steadily increasing.

“This is something we couldn’t have attributed and we’re not alone.”