New change proposed for £61.5m route linking M1 and A6 through greenbelt land near Luton
A minor change is planned to a controversial £61.5m strategic bypass project through the greenbelt, north of Luton.
Planning permission for the new 2.75-mile (4.4km) road between the M1 and the A6 was approved for its scheme by Central Bedfordshire Council in 2019, despite opposition from conservation groups, several local authorities and many residents.
The mixed single and dual carriageway 50mph route would run from junction 11a of the motorway to the A6 Barton Road, connecting with the M1/A5 link road near Chalton.
A non-material amendment planning application has been submitted to CBC this month, according to the council’s website.
“The field access, which is the subject of this amendment, adjoins the A6 Barton Road on the western side about 100 metres to the south of New Farm in Streatley,” said the application.
“The intention is to use this field access to the development site on the A6 to enable construction vehicles and plant to access the land during the initial building phase of the slip road only.”
CBC’s full plans involve building the link road through the undeveloped countryside around Sundon, Chalton and Streatley, including the Chilterns area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).
The project features “intermediate junctions, overbridges, underbridges, cycle paths, revisions to the public rights of way network, drainage and landscaping”, added the application.
A rail freight interchange is proposed at one of the junctions along the route, which will connect to Camford Way to the south. Sundon Park Road would be stopped up for motorised traffic. Part of the route would be single carriageway, with the stretches of dual carriageway at the busiest sections.
The Wildlife Trust expressed its concerns on the visual impact of the plans, in 2019, while other objections were made by CPRE Bedfordshire, the Chilterns Conservation Board, the Woodland Trust and Natural England.
A report to CBC’s planning committee said at that time: “These proposals would form inappropriate development within the greenbelt, but it’s considered the scheme presents substantial public benefits which outweigh the harm to the landscape and the AONB.”
Funding remains an issue and was discussed at a review of the CBC capital programme in January, ahead of the Independent administration’s first budget. The project was forecast to cost £61.5m of which £32.75m was secured from the Department of Transport.
Independent Flitwick councillor Heather Townsend described the planned route as “amounting to environmental vandalism” in a social media post, earlier this year.
“It goes through the Chilterns AONB and many sites of special scientific interest,” she explained. “It’s equivalent to deciding to build a road through Flitwick Moor.
“As discussed at the CBC capital expenditure review, the road has a £30m gap in funding. The cost of borrowing is so high, this development isn’t something CBC can undertake without finding an alternative source of finance.”
The plans were referred to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government after their approval by CBC. But the local planning authority can give consent to a non-material amendment. Work was originally scheduled to start on the link road in early 2022.