Cabinet Member steps in to get new link road opened

The opening of the Southern Connector Road, which was built to provide a link between the 8,000-home New Eastern Villages (NEV) and Commonhead roundabout, has been significantly delayed after the company that built it went into administration in September 2023.

Buckingham Group, who started on site in September 2021, called in administrators Grant Thornton towards the end of the construction phase and before the road was officially handed over to Swindon Borough Council.

In conjunction with the administrator, the Council has undertaken numerous surveys and inspections to determine what elements of the scheme still need to be completed before it can be opened safely. During this process, a number of defects relating to the new bridge that was constructed were uncovered, while faults with the road surfacing, embankments, verges and road safety requirements were also identified.

With issues remaining unresolved and Grant Thornton recently asking for an independent conflict administrator to be appointed by the court resulting in further considerable delays, Councillor Chris Watts, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment and Transport, has taken the decisive step to authorise council officers to press ahead with remedial work, including critical repairs to the bridge, so the road can be safely opened to construction traffic.

Cllr Watts has also asked council officers to monitor construction traffic using Merlin Way to ensure that developers who are accessing their sites at Redlands and Lotmead are doing so in accordance with the planning consent that was granted.

The Council has been in regular contact with the developers to remind them of their responsibilities towards local residents, including making sure that they observe the restrictions placed on their lorry movements.

Councillor Watts said: “This project has been stuck in a time warp since I took over as Cabinet Member in June 2023 as, just three months after taking on the job, Buckingham collapsed.

“As we have sadly now discovered, administration is an extremely time-consuming process that has put us in the frankly unacceptable position where we have been unable to get this new road open.

“The New Eastern Villages is one of the Borough’s key strategic housing sites and we need to support the developers so they can begin to build the much-needed homes. This is being frustrated by the administration process.

“We also have a duty to local residents to get this road opened for construction traffic so that developers working on future phases of the NEV can use it to access their sites.

“This is why I am saying enough is enough. I have instructed officers to press ahead with the remedial repairs we need to make in order to safely open the road for construction traffic only in the medium term. This includes significant repairs to the bridge that was built.

“We are aiming to get part of the road opened to construction traffic over the coming months to enable them to access their land.”