HOPES of Worcester finally getting a Northern Relief Ring Road have suffered a bitter blow - after council chiefs ruled it out for another 16 years.

Ahead of a crunch vote on 28,370 more homes, your Worcester News can reveal how Worcestershire County Council has effectively abandoned any hope of completing the city's link road by 2030.

A new report reveals:

- The county council's highways experts were recently asked to express a view by district councils over whether a northern link would be needed assuming every single house earmarked for south Worcestershire gets built by 2030

- They were told it does "not require" the link road "either in whole or part", despite around 2,100 new homes expected to be built by 2030 next to Dines Green

- The county council still needs to do technical work to identify a "tipping point" which would then require a northern link to be built, but it will never be reached in the current South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP)

The findings are contained in a report for the benefit of Wychavon District Council, which next Tuesday will be taking a vote on the SWDP at the same time as simultaneous votes by district councils in Worcester and Malvern.

It is the first time the county council has publicly acknowledged it does not believe a northern link is needed in Worcester such a long way into the future.

Proposals for a northern link first emerged in 2010, when the council revealed drawings showing a new River Severn crossing near Bevere island.

But the costs, estimated at well over £100 million at the time, meant in recent years County Hall has focused on other road improvements including the current £38 million plan to dual most of the A4440 Southern Link.

The fresh advice has angered politicians, with one saying Worcester will "come to regret" the stance.

Councillor Roger Knight, who represents St Peter's, said: "I think it's disappointing and it lacks foresight.

"We must be one of the few cities in the country without a completed ring road - my view is that this is something we'll come to regret."

Councillor Richard Udall, who represents St John's, said west Worcester will be "killed" without a ring road.

"We don't need this relief road in 2020 or 2030, we need it now," he said.

"There is a clear, demonstrable need for it - the residents of St John's are being sacrificed by political opportunism."

Under the 2010 plans the northern link would have run from the A449 Claines roundabout to the A44 Crown East island.

In recent years the Tory leadership has moved away from making it a priority, saying the costs are unaffordable, and that most of the future projected housing growth is not earmarked for north Worcester.

Talks around a northern link first started in the 1980s, and in the 1990s two council committees took it as far as commissioning drawings, but nothing firm came forward until four years ago.

Back in May Councillor Simon Geraghty, the deputy leader, admitted he was looking at more realistic transport improvements and rejected calls to lobby the Government on it, calling the Northern Relief Link Road “a distraction”.

But no specific timescale on exactly how long it is being ruled out for has ever emerged until the report for Wychavon District Council was published this week.

Cllr Geraghty said: “The council was consulted by the three district councils on the transport requirement for their revised development plan for homes, businesses and facilities in the SWDP.

“In relation to Worcester, the professional advice given indicates that substantial investment is required on the A4440 Southern Link Road and a new link would need to be created between (the A44) Crown East and Martley Road in order to accommodate the additional growth proposed by the revised plan.”

WHAT THE COUNTY COUNCIL’S OFFICIAL ADVICE SAYS

The report to Wychavon District Council’s full council for next Tuesday includes details on the official advice from Worcestershire County Council on the link road, saying the following:

“The level of growth proposed at Worcester and specifically the recommended major urban extension to the west of the city (2,150 homes) does not require the building of a Northern Link Relief Road in either whole or part during the plan period, i.e. up to the year 2030.

“The advice of the highway authority is that it is unlikely that a significantly larger major urban extension to the west of the city could be served using the existing road network, including the A4440 Southern Link Road, even with major improvement, and a Northern Link in whole or part would (then) be required.

“Further, technical work and transport modelling would be required however, to determine a general tipping point where a Northern Link would be required.

“The building of a Northern Link remains a long term aspiration in the Worcestershire Local Transport Plan (the third version).

“However, there is no approved scheme, no approved detailed alignment or current design proposal and no funding identified for the building of a NWLR.

“Furthermore, there is no long term commitment to further growth to the west of the city beyond 2030 which may result in the need for a Northern Link.”

It goes on to say the house and infrastructure building will “not preclude” the link road being built “at some stage”, and that some kind of new connection should be created between Crown East and Martley Road which could eventually be upgraded to form part of a northern link in the future, although it would require a lot of detailed work first.