Northampton Borough Council to try and get further funding for delayed St James link road project

The scheme, which would ease congestion and connect St James Mill Road and St James Mill Road East, has been met with delays after incurring additional costs due to the discovery of contamination in the ground.

It was revealed in June that an additional £1million would be needed to ensure the project could be completed, meaning the total cost of the works would now stand at over £4million.

Councillor Jonathan Nunn, leader of Northampton Borough Council, had told the Local Democracy Reporting Service earlier this year that although the scheme was important to residents, the council ‘can’t find that money at the moment’.

But the leader, in his latest report to council on Monday (September 16), said the authority was planning to go back to the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), to try and persuade them to grant extra funding on top of the £600,000 it had already pledged to the scheme.

Councillor Nunn said: “The chief executive [George Candler] and I have also continued our positive relationships with the managing director at Cosworth who we met recently to discuss St James Mill link road.

“Members will be aware that the increased costs following the land analysis continues to make this a challenging project, but I wanted you to be aware that we are still continuing our dialogue with SEMLEP with regards to this project and will be providing a further update on the work at the Enterprise Zone Board in November, with a view to providing a more detailed, updated business case for further funding from SEMLEP to enable the road to be completed.

“There is no guarantee we will be successful, but it is important that we try to complete this particular scheme.”