1 THE ISSUE

1.1 In September 2008 the Council confirmed its support for the Two Tunnels Project promoted by Sustrans and the Two Tunnels Group and identified the Council's role in the project and financial contribution. This report considers the business case and financial plan for the project submitted by Sustrans as project managers for the scheme.

2 RECOMMENDATION

The Cabinet member is asked to agree that:

2.1 Subject to confirmation by Sustrans that the Two Tunnels business case and financial plan meets the BIG Lottery and Links 2 School grant conditions, the Council support the business case as the basis for procuring and maintaining the Works and that:

A. On land outside the Council's ownership, Sustrans be responsible for :

i) Carrying out all Works, including repairs, lighting, CCTV and maintenance of the Devonshire and Combe Down tunnels and Tucking Mill Viaduct to bring into use and make safe for pedestrians and cyclists.

ii) Design and construction of all new paths to a standard approved by the Council.

iii) Obtaining rights of access for pedestrians and cyclists

B. On land in the Council's ownership, the Council will:

i) Commission Sustrans to design and build all new Works including paths and structures to a standard approved by the Council on a maximum fee, no profit basis, subject to an exemption from contract standing orders. The Works will be constructed in stages and let as discrete contracts within the funding available from the various grants and contributions.

ii) Recover the VAT on the Works on land in its ownership only.

iii) Permit cyclists and pedestrians to use paths constructed on Council land.

iv) Claim BIG Lottery funding and Links 2 School funding allocated to the project in accordance with the MOU's to be agreed between Sustrans and the Council.

v) Contribute a maximum of £369k from the LTP capital programme (£279k in 2010/11 and £100k in 2011/12, including all reasonable fees and charges incurred by the Council.

vi) Pay the ongoing tunnel lighting electricity costs for the basic lighting scheme only and CCTV microwave communication costs.

C. Maintenance Agreement

i) The Council enter into a maintenance agreement with Sustrans for the maintenance of the paths on land outside the Council's ownership. The agreement will include Sustrans responsibilities for monitoring, inspecting and maintaining the structures in their ownership in good repair and arrangements for closing the tunnels in cases of persistent anti-social behaviour.

ii) Signs are to be erected to indicate that the route is not a designated highway under the Highways Act 1980 and ensure future maintenance liabilities for Sustrans owned structures do not transfer to the Council.

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 The total Capital cost of the project is estimated by Sustrans to be £1,942,240 including VAT payable on Works on land outside the Council's ownership.

3.2. It is proposed to contribute £269k from the Council's LTP capital programme in 2010/11 and £100k in 2011/12. £31k has been spent in 2009/10 on principal inspections of Combe Down Tunnel, Devonshire Tunnel and Tucking Mill Viaduct, making a total contribution of £400k.

3.3 £1m of Big Lottery Funds has been allocated to the project and £222,240 has allocated through Links to School funding. A further £290k been raised in contributions from other sources.

3.4 There is currently a estimated short fall of funding of £61k, which Sustrans and/or the Two Tunnels Group will need to raise. Possible sources of funding have been identified by Sustrans in the Business Case.

3.5 The project will be let in a series of fixed price contracts for each element of the scheme, such that the risk of any cost overrun in relation to each contract is an will remain with Sustrans. The Council will act as commissioner for Works on land in its ownership and recover the VAT.

3.6 Sustrans will be responsible for ensuring that the project remains within the funding they have available and to the extent that the costs exceed those project, Sustrans will need to make savings in future programme phases.

3.7 Project management and responsibility for delivery of the scheme rests with Sustrans. However the Council's Major Projects Division, through a series of gateway reviews, will monitor the Council's involvement in the project at each stage in order to ensure the Council's risk exposure remains at all times consistent with its commitment.

3.8 The Council's costs associated with approving, supervising the Works is estimated to be £80k, funded by the project.

3.9 The Council's revenue costs associated with the project are identified as follows:

Tunnel lighting electricity costs (£9.5k/year)

Cycle path maintenance over complete length of the route, including two new over bridges. (£5k/year)

CCTV microwave communication costs (£1k/year)

Opening and closing tunnel gates on a daily basis, if required to deal with persistent anti-social crime and disorder issues on advice of the police. (£15k-£21k/year)

3.10 Sustrans will provide low level maintenance such as clearing the route of leaves and litter using their volunteer rangers.

3.11 The Council's financial contribution will be used on Works within the Council's ownership.

4. CORPORATE PRIORITIES

• Building communities where people feel safe and secure
• Sustainable growth
• Addressing the causes and effects of Climate Change
• Improving transport and the public realm

Increasing levels of cycling and walking is an objective of the Joint Local Transport Plan.

5. THE REPORT

5.1 The Two Tunnels Project consists of some 5km of pedestrian and cycle paths, with connecting routes, along the former Somerset and Dorset railway, between Bellotts Road (Bath) and Midford. The route connects with the National Cycle Network (NCN) route 24 to Radstock with the NCN 4 between Bath and Bristol and crosses two roads, Dartmouth Road and Monksdale Road, where two bridges are proposed to maintain the continuity of the traffic free route.

5.2 A particular feature of the project is that the route runs through the 400 m long Devonshire and 1700m long Combe Down Tunnels under Bath and crosses the Tucking Mill Viaduct.

5.3 The Council owns and is responsible for maintaining a section of the route between the two tunnels and the section which forms the Linear Park to the north and west of the tunnels. Sustrans are responsible for negotiating access for pedestrians and cyclists with the remaining owners along the route (including British Rail Property, Wessex Water) either through land purchase or obtaining licences.

5.4 Additional funds have been secured through the sale of King Bladud's Pigs and Cycle England's Links to School fund to bridge the funding gap in Sustrans' original budget estimate and a draft business case was submitted to the Council on 7 Aug 2009, proposing that the Council take ownership of the tunnels and Tucking Mill Viaduct to enable the project to recover the VAT.

5.5 The Council subsequently commissioned Principal Inspection Reports of Combe Down and Devonshire Tunnels and Tucking Mill Viaduct by the Council's term consultant Mott MacDonald to provide more detailed cost estimates for bringing these structures back into use for pedestrian and cyclists.

5.6 The surveys indicated that although the tunnels and viaduct were generally stable and in good condition for their age there were a number of risks associated with the tunnels identified in 5.7-5.9 below.

5.7 Devonshire Tunnel

• Potential movement and instability in the tunnel lining
  
• Evidence of deterioration and previous repairs to the tunnel lining
  
• Current rock fall hazards and slope instability cuttings.
  
• Potential for hidden shafts

5.8 Combe Down Tunnel

• Potential movement and instability in the tunnel lining
  
• Evidence of deterioration and previous repairs to the tunnel lining
  
• Current rock fall hazards and slope instability cuttings.
  
• Potential for hidden shafts
  
• Potential geological instability within the tunnel
  
• Deterioration of the tunnel lining

5.9 Tucking Mill Viaduct

• Parapets and refuges in poor condition
  
• Separation cracks between 2 sections of bridge
  
• Pilasters and spandrels walls, including area of bulging to be investigated for movement

5.10 Costings

Motts estimated the cost of repairing the defects as follows:

Combe Down Tunnel £923k

Devonshire Tunnel £574.99 k

Tucking Mill Viaduct £48.9k - £58.9k

5.11 Whilst the Tucking Mill Viaduct costs identified are consistent with budget estimates originally provided by Sustrans, the costs for Devonshire and Combe Down Tunnel significantly exceeded Sustrans' budgets.

5.12 Following advice from two structural engineers appointed by Sustrans, Ian White Associates and Simon Ballantyne Associates, Sustrans subsequently decided to take ownership of both tunnels and Tucking Mill Viaduct, together with control of the land to the south of Combe Down tunnel. Consequently the project will not be able to reclaim VAT on Works carried out on these sections of the route.

5.13 A new business case was submitted at the end of November 2009 (Appendix 1), to reflect this position, with Sustrans solely responsible for Works carried out on land outside the Council's ownership and the Council commissioning Sustrans to carry out Works on land in its ownership.

5.14 Mott Macdonald consider the Ian White Associate (IWA) report to be largely consistent with their own findings. However the reduced scope of remedial works recommended by IWA would, in Mott MacDonald's view, result in a higher level of residual maintenance risk, which through comparison with their existing asset stock Sustrans are willing to accept.

Outstanding land issues

5.15 While there are no current proposals to provide a cycle link between the 2 Tunnels route and Lyncombe Vale Road because no agreement has been reached with the land owner, Sustrans are actively seeking an alternative link. If no alternative link can be made cyclists will need to dismount to use the pedestrian link. The number of users of the link is expected to be relatively low and no safety issues have been identified.

5.16 A right of way for cyclists does not currently exist over land at Midford and if access rights cannot be secured, cyclists will need to dismount over this section of the route. Sustrans report that initial contact made with the new owner of the land has been encouraging.

Tunnel Management Plan

5.17 The Tunnel Management Plan (Appendix 2) includes the use of lighting, which will be switched off between 11pm and 3am as a requirement of Natural England to protect bats. CCTV infra red cameras capable operating in the dark will linked to B&NES CCTV central surveillance system and monitored.

5.18 Gates at each end of the tunnel will be provided, but will only used to deal with persistent crime and disorder behaviour issues identified by the police. Sustrans do not consider the tunnels in themselves will result in an increase in crime and disorder and the police have not raised any objections to the proposal. The cost of opening and closing the gates on a daily basis is estimated to be between £15-21k/yr.

Motorcyling

5.19 There are concerns expressed by residents about the use of the route by motorcyclists. Experience of other Greenways in B&NES indicate this is not a significant problem, however if persistent problems occur, which cannot be resolved by any other means, consideration would need to be given to installing motorcycle barriers.

6 RISK MANAGEMENT

6.1 The report author and Cabinet members have fully reviewed the risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.

6.2 As stated above the project will be reviewed at each gateway stage to ensure the risks are manageable within the budget allocated to each section of the project. The scope of the project may be reduced if there is a risk of cost overruns.

6.3 Sustrans will be responsible under the maintenance agreement for carrying out annual surveys and maintaining the structures in their ownership ie Devonshire Tunnel, Combe Down Tunnel and Tucking Mill Viaduct to ensure they are safe for pedestrians and cyclists to use. The Council will not be liable for any incident that may occur on land outside the Council's ownership.

6.4 Subject to the implementation and continuation of an adequate monitoring and inspection regime by Sustrans, the Council's consultants, Mott MacDonnald consider the IWA recommendations to be sufficient to mitigate the health and safety risk.

7 EQUALITIES

7.1 There are no equalities issues associated with this project affecting the main equalities groups and an Equalities Impact Assessment has not been carried out. The Two Tunnels Project provides access to the city and green spaces for those who do not have access to a car or public transport and by encouraging walking and cycling promotes healthy living.

8 RATIONALE

8.1 The rationale behind the recommendation is to provide financial support, recover the VAT on Work carried out on Council land and to limit the Council's exposure to risk and future maintenance liabilities.

9 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

9.1 Taking control of the all the land required for the project, in order to fully recover VAT, may expose the Council to significant ongoing maintenance liabilities.

9.2 Limiting the offer of support to a financial contribution only would result in Sustrans not being able capitalise on the successful lottery bid or recover VAT on Works on land on the Council's ownership.

10 CONSULTATION

10.1 Ward Councillors; Cabinet members; Parish Council; Other B&NES Services; Service Users; Local Residents; Community Interest Groups; Section 151 Finance Officer; Monitoring Officer

10.2 Sustrans and the Two Tunnels Group have met with residents groups in Lyncombe Vale and Widecombe to discuss the proposals.

10.3 The consultation carried out by the Council by email received the following responses:

Lyncombe Vale Road Residents Group

Concerns about the security of the tunnels, particularly during 11pm and 3am, and seek assurance that CCTV will be monitored and Gating Orders will be implemented if persistent crime and disorder issues arise in the tunnels. There are also concerns about the use of the route by motorcyclists and lack of mobile phone coverage in the tunnels.

Request the loss of trees be minimised to maintain the character of the route.

Consideration be given to safety aspects of increased pedestrian/cycle use of Lyncombe Vale Road.

Kendall Boholawec - Resident of Lyncombe Vale

Supports the project and cycle access to/from Lyncombe Vale Road

Widecombe Association

Support cycle access to/from Lyncombe Vale Road, but concerned that rights of way over land at Midford for cyclists has not yet been secured by Sustrans, requiring cyclists to dismount over this section of the route. Also concerned that the tunnel lighting will be switched off between 11pm and 3am and that this will result in crime and disorder.

Monkton Combe Parish Council

Concerned that the tunnel will be open 24hrs a day and will encourage anti-social behaviour. Also concerned about motorcycling and fly tipping.

11 ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN REACHING THE DECISION

11.1 Social Inclusion; Sustainability; Property; Health & Safety; Other Legal Considerations

12 ADVICE SOUGHT

12.1 The Council's Monitoring Officer (Council Solicitor) and Section 151 Officer (Strategic Director - Support Services) have had the opportunity to input to this report and have cleared it for publication.

 

Contact person	Adrian Clarke email adrian_clarke@BathNES.gov.uk tel 01225 395223
Background papers	Two Tunnels Project (Single Member Decision Ref E1842)
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