THE long awaited Middlewich Eastern Bypass faces a ‘short’ delay because a bridge scheme was omitted from statutory documentation required for the scheme to go ahead.

Councillors at Tuesday’s meeting of Cheshire East's highways committee were asked by officers for permission to withdraw two orders – the compulsory purchase order (CPO) and the side roads orders (SRO)– after being told by director of governance and compliance David Brown that the changes required cannot be rectified by requesting modifications to be made by the Secretary of State for Transport.

He added an extraordinary meeting of the highways committee would be called next month to progress the new orders.

A report presented to the committee at Macclesfield Town Hall stated: “It is now clear the orders do not contain all the required permissions needed.

“The scheme currently includes two overbridges, one over the active Sandbach to Northwich Railway line and one over the Trent and Mersey Canal which is a navigable waterway.

“Where a bridge is to be constructed over a navigable waterway, it should be authorised by a specific Bridge Scheme pursuant to S106 Highways Act 1980 to ensure that there is no impact on the navigation rights of the users.

“The orders do not include such a Bridge Scheme.”

The report continues: “The CPO and SRO as made are currently flawed and the omission of a bridge scheme from the statutory documentation is an impediment to the scheme.

"The orders, as currently before the Secretary of State for Transport, are incapable of being confirmed.

"This necessitates the withdrawal of both orders to enable a new CPO, SRO and bridge scheme to be drafted as comprehensibly and expeditiously as possible to enable the full delivery of the scheme without impediment.

“It is expected that the new documentation will be available to be considered by the committee in October 2021.”

Middlewich councillor Mike Hunter (Lab) said: “As somebody that’s campaigned for 34 years for a bypass for Middlewich, it is very disappointing that this has come about.

"However, much as my disappointment is, I am relieved it has been found now rather than later down the road because that would absolutely delay the bypass beyond any imagination we could think of.

“I’m so happy that, yes we’ve found it, the team that found it, they’re putting it right. Yes it will cause a short delay but it’s better we found it now.”