Agenda item

NORTHUMBERLAND LINE

To provide an update on progress on the Northumberland Line project in the last 12 months including the achievement of several significant milestones and an overview of the next stages of the project and their funding implications. (Report enclosed as Appendix B).

Minutes:

The Cabinet report provided an update on progress on the Northumberland Line project in the last 12 months including the achievement of several significant milestone and an overview of the next stages of the project and their funding implications. 

 

R O’Farrell, Executive Director Corporate Services, Planning and Economy introduced the report and the progress made.  Morgan Sindell had been appointed as the main contractors for the station and structures construction.  An application had been submitted for the Transport and Work Acts Order which gives powers for compulsory purchase.  The public enquiry would start early in November.  All but one planning application had been submitted for the stations and Network Rail had started preliminary works on the actual track works. 

 

The report also referred to a raft of financial recommendations in relation to receipts of external funding and the reprofiling from the Medium Terms Financial Plan and sought delegation of approval to the Head of Paid Services or nominated Executive Director to execute all contracts relating to the Northumberland Line project. 

 

Approval was also sought for the commencement of two procurement exercises – The Integrated Programme Management forecast and the Network Rail Asset Protection Agreement forecast. 

 

Members were informed that one of the recommendations was that proposed station car parks would be free of charge for the first two years which would be reviewed thereafter. 

 

 

Following questions from Members; it was established that:  

 

  • Plans would be available for Bebside and Newsham Station online on the planning portal. 
  • The review of the car parks would be carried out by the Economy and Regeneration Team with detailed surveys of the use of car park and residential streets which would inform a decision. 
  • Work was ongoing with the Bus Service Improvement Programme and local cycling and walking corridors that would feed into stations. 
  • In last 12 months and early study had been conducted to look at opportunities, working alongside colleagues from the North of Tyne Combined Authority.  That work was now complete, and a report would be brought back to the committee.  The County’s new local plan would have an early review to look at the impact on the economic corridor on housing and on employment land and a proposal for £35 million had been submitted to Government. 
  • The lines would be managed by the Dft and the service would be absorbed into the Northern franchise. 
  • The local plan would consider local and the wider impact, eg housing.  The suggestion of a community bus was a good idea and would be fed back to colleagues.    
  • A localised level of planning was going ahead, and a local transport initiative would be considered. 
  • The ultimate ambition was an integrated system which would allow a single ticket to be bought, ie smart card technology, however not everyone had the ability to access smart card technology.  Earlier this year the Joint Transport Committee published plan and one of its key objectives was ticketing as a single point of contact. 
  • Projected costs were an ongoing concern 
  • Legislations required CPOs were a last resort, and negotiation had to be carried out until the last minute. 
  • The comment regarding extra room on trains for cyclists was acknowledged and a social value work steam was being looked at and work ongoing with the cultural team.  The old stations on Bedlington platform were redundant and work was being carried out with Network Rail looking at a range of options. 

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Thanks were conveyed to all officers involved. 

 

 

RESOLVED that Cabinet be advised that this Committee support the recommendations as outlined in the report and specifically to the proposal of the two years’ free parking. 

 

Supporting documents: