A controversial £30 million relief road expected to ease traffic through a snarled-up village has been “thrown a lifeline” – days after it was surprisingly snubbed.

The Sturry bypass project was drawn up to reduce congestion through Canterbury's A28 level crossing – the busiest in Kent – prior to the completion of almost 1,100 homes at two sites nearby.

However, the county council's planning committee narrowly voted down part of the divisive proposal two weeks ago, plunging the scheme’s future into doubt.

Uncertainty was heightened by revelations that a £5.9m Government grant secured for the development had been lost following the decision.

But now the centrally funded backers, South East Local Enterprise Partnership (Selep), has told the authority it will still be eligible for the cash if it approves the scheme by September.

Canterbury City Council leader Ben Fitter-Harding has welcomed the move.

“Having the funding available really does throw a lifeline to the relief road project,” he said.

“This is a vital piece of infrastructure for our district, and it’s hard to imagine not having it – there’s no real plan B here.

“That could be things like funding for education or affordable housing on the two sites nearby. It would have been a real loss for the community.

“It may have meant the loss of all affordable housing at one of the sites. Selep’s decision ensures they’re protected.

“The fact there’s £5.9 million of funding coming from an external source shows what a stretch this is, so I don’t think there are any major changes we can expect to see in the scheme at this stage.”

Cllr Fitter-Harding believes Kent County Council (KCC) will vote on the link road project once again sometime after the local elections in May.

But the Tory leader says there is little he can do to pressure his counterparts in County Hall into changing their minds.

“It’s not for me to interject in. While I’m still fully supportive of the scheme, it really is for the county councillors to consider the scheme,” he added.

“Given more information from their officers, I’m sure they’ll see the importance of the infrastructure.”

The city council last month approved two huge new housing developments, totalling 1,086 homes, in Sturry and nearby Broad Oak.

The firm behind the former, Environ Design, plans to build no affordable homes on its 630-property site.

Meanwhile, Broad Oak Farm developer Somerlee Homes has pledged to make 27% of its homes affordable – which falls short of the usual 30% requirement.

The lack of such provision has been permitted because both firms are contributing £8.8 million to the entire bypass project.

A further £1.2 million was set to come from firms behind the Hoplands Farms project in Hersden, with the shortfall made up from other developer contributions.

The original terms of Selep’s £5.9 million grant stated it would be reallocated to other projects should KCC refuse the viaduct plan.

But following a meeting of the organisation’s board on Friday, it decided to allow the authority access to the funds until the autumn.

A Selep spokesperson explained: “Given the importance of the project, the board decided to retain the funding against the project until September 1.

“This will allow KCC time to resolve the outstanding uncertainties and, if possible, address the concerns raised by the planning committee.”

Drawings show the planned bypass is set to run from Sturry Hill, through the new Sturry estate and to a new roundabout.

Drivers would then be able to turn left over a viaduct and towards the A28 near the Park and Ride, or straight on to Broad Oak Road. The section of road through the estate has already been approved.

But the future of the viaduct – a three-lane bridge running over the River Stour to another new roundabout in Sturry Road – hinged on last Tuesday’s KCC vote.

“The thought of it not happening at all would continue to hamper economic growth across our district and continue to cause problems with air quality,” Cllr Fitter-Harding continued.

“The biggest threat was for the scheme to be delayed for funding to be sought.

“There was also that potential to suck in funds from other places, whether it’s affordable housing or other contributions those developers are making to soften their impact on the community.

“I hope KCC can get an acceptable scheme approved and then it will therefore allow us to deliver the housing in our [Canterbury’s] Local Plan.”

Worryingly, city council papers show there is no cap on the number of homes Environ Design can build and sell before the viaduct is built.

Instead, the developer has pledged to allow no more than 385 of its properties to be occupied until the spine road running from Sturry Hill through to Shalloak Road is laid.

KCC was contacted for comment, but did not respond.

Action group's fears for future of village

Villagers are calling for a total rethink of the plans.

The Sturry and Broad Oak action group believes the banning of city-bound motorists from travelling over the level crossing would fail to eradicate the area’s traffic problems, and “only move a traffic jam from one place to another”.

As part of the bypass plans, drivers heading into Canterbury from Herne Bay and Thanet would have been unable to pass over tracks, with only cyclists and buses allowed access.

Action group member David Wadmore told KentOnline: “It’s difficult to single out one thing that’s wrong with this proposal - it’s a badly thought-out scheme.

“Not allowing traffic through the level crossing will kill off the centre of the village - people won’t be able to get to the post office, dentist or library.

“By building the bridge, that would encourage the traffic to go through a dense housing estate, which we’ve objected to on all sorts of health grounds.

“Because it’s surrounded by so many houses, the link road is only going to attract traffic, rather than deflect it.”

Drivers would directed onto the relief road near to the Greenfields shooting range on Sturry Hill in order to bypass the level crossing.

They would then travel west along the relief road through the new Sturry estate until hitting a new roundabout.

Continuing straight on would take motorists onto Broad Oak Road.

“We really, really don’t want to see it happen,” Mr Wadmore added.

“We realise the city council has put themselves in a difficult position in terms of fulfilling the Local Plan, but we didn’t think it was a particularly good plan for the area

“The developments in Sturry were first rejected by the city council, the second version was approved and the bridge was thrown out by KCC - I wonder how many times they have to apply for the same thing to get the message.

"The whole policy of how they do sustainable development needs to be reviewed.”

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