A SHORTFALL of more than £21million for a new link road to support a 9,000- home development could widen further with no guarantee the money will be made up from the Government.

Essex County Council has not only asked the Government for an additional £21million to be released to pay for the increased costs of the new A133/A120 link road on the Colchester/ Tendring border, but for the deadline for completion to be extended to August 2025.

The contract with the Government had stipulated the road had to be completed by 2024.

With prices rising at the fastest rate for 40 years, additional cost pressures are likely to come from spiralling inflation, which has now hit 9.1 per cent.

The Government had allocated £99million of Housing Infrastructure Fund money for the delivery of the link road and a rapid transport system to enable the development of a 9,000-home garden town on the Tendring and Colchester border.

The county council – which gave planning permission for the road at the time costed at £70million in November 2021 – has admitted there is a risk that Homes England and the Treasury will not be willing to fund the cost escalation of £21.25million in full or is not willing to the full programme extension.

A time extension is a separate risk to the £21.25million cost escalation, as the county council is currently unable to draw down funding beyond March 31, 2024, under the terms of the Grant Determination Agreement.

The authority has also added that additional risks beyond the £21.25million have been identified and should these materialise the funding gap may widen even further.

Essex County Council is negotiating with several landowners and if a public inquiry is necessary to resolve those issues, the programme would be extended by an estimated period of 12 months with costs increasing significantly owing to materials increases and inflation.