Funding for Poynton relief road submitted

An agreement has been made to submit a funding application for the £50.7m Poynton relief road scheme to the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The decision was made in a meeting of cabinet today (10 September 2019), which followed a successful procurement exercise which identified a preferred contractor.

As part of the application, Cheshire East Council will ask for funding of £22m from the DfT and LEP with the remainder of the money coming from developer contributions, asset sales and funding from the council budgets.

The relief road aims to support the economic, physical and social regeneration of Poynton and Macclesfield with additional improvements to the highway network for walking, cycling and public transport. It also seeks to relieve heavy congestion and take traffic off some local roads onto key strategic routes, which will boost local business productivity.

Councillor Craig Browne, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council, said: “This scheme represents high value for money for Cheshire East; every £1 spent on the scheme is anticipated to return £3.4 worth of benefits, which gives us a high degree of confidence for the final business case to be approved by DfT.

“Not only will the scheme unlock potential opportunities in the north of the borough, it aims to help the council achieve its priorities by creating an environment within Poynton which helps to attract new businesses and improves our cycling and walking environment.” 

The final business case is expected to be submitted to DfT and LEP in the coming months.