Middlewich eastern bypass building could start next year

Cheshire East Council’s cabinet gave the green light for compulsory purchase orders to be used if necessary before building the road at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.

And its leadership provided an update on the timescale for the project, which is still anticipated to be complete in 2023 despite the coronavirus crisis.

“The bypass has been on the table for more than 30 years and has never happened,” Cllr Jonathan Parry, Labour CEC member for Middlewich, told cabinet.

“Residents of Middlewich still show apprehension that it will never be completed due to the years of continued disappointments.

“It’s fantastic to see that even though a lot of services have had to shut down during [the pandemic], progress has still been made and the target is still being kept.

“I think that is absolutely fantastic work from the officers concerned because it is such an important issue to solve a lot of problems in Middlewich.”

Independent Cllr Craig Browne, CEC’s deputy leader, told his cabinet colleagues that the new road would ‘deliver an improved highway network for Middlewich’ while unlocking further land for development.

He added that the agreement to use compulsory purchase powers where needed would provide ‘certainty and assurance that the scheme can progress’.

Cllr Browne said: “I fully understand and concur with the frustration and apprehension that must be felt by the residents of Middlewich over the number of years they have been waiting for this road to come forwards.”

While Cllr Browne said the hope was to start building the road in 2021, a press release issued shortly after the meeting said it would more likely be winter 2021-22 following severe wet weather last winter and coronavirus.

Those issues delayed the ground investigation work, which now will not be complete until later this year.

CEC says its preferred option is to acquire all the land it needs by negotiation with landowners, but that the project would be ‘compromised’ if it cannot acquire all the land it needs, making the option of compulsory purchase necessary.

It will give public notice of any compulsory purchases and will defend its position at public inquiry if necessary.

The council had previously agreed to use the powers last year, but needed to give fresh commitment today after the road was redesigned following ground investigation work, reducing the amount of imported material needed to build the bypass.

CEC hopes the changes will save £3.5 million on the project, which had been expected to cost around £58 million, while it also could shave two months off the construction period from 22 to 20 months.

Any residents with concerns about the scheme can click here to find out more.

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