13 July 2008 - Green Councillors today condemn the Norfolk County Council cabinet proposal to underwrite 'any unsecured funding' for the Northern Distributor Road - due to be pushed through at the Cabinet meeting on Monday 14 July 2008.
Councillor Andrew Boswell says "the funding for the NDR is shaky at best, and future councils will need to borrow to cover the shortfall - this will hit council tax payers and services for decades. We calculate that council tax payers could be left with an annual bill of over £6m just in loan interest from 2012. People from beyond Lowestoft and Kings Lynn may be paying for a Norwich road well into the 2030s under the local government reorganisation proposal."
Councillor Boswell points out that the decision couldn't come at a worse moment as the Government announced last week that costs for 51 road construction schemes managed by local authorities have climbed from £1.33 billion to more than £2 billion (see 'Links' below). "The Government made it clear, then, that councils will most likely be made to pay for overruns in the future, although the Norfolk council report also assumes that the Government would help in any financial 'bail out'.
"The financial plan for the road is highly optimistic, and assumes that £39m of currently unallocated Government funding will be won. Yet, the Council clearly lacks confidence in the financial robustness of its own plans as the report to Cabinet includes the suggestion of a phased implementation of the road if funds are unavailable."
The Green Party calculate that if these funds were not won and there was a 25 per cent inflation on the projected build costs, then there would be £69.93 million shortfall by 2012. Using the councils own repayment estimates, this would cost £6.23 million a year to taxpayers in loan interest for 25 years.
The Greens point out that 25 per cent inflation is actually a modest estimate. In East Sussex, a 3.5-mile link road between Bexhill and Hastings has almost doubled in price from £47 million in 2005 to £89 million. The council report acknowledges that recent price rises in land and oil are likely to lead to even greater inflation in road building from now on.
Green County Councillor Chris Hull says "The council should scrap the NDR project - it is clear that it will cost our region dearly for many years. The Council should start seriously developing sustainable transport across Norfolk instead."
The Norfolk County Council cabinet proposal to underwrite 'any unsecured funding' for the Northern Distributor Road can be read here.