A PAYMENT of almost £5 million towards the Middlewich eastern bypass will be made by a housing developer in four stages.

A section 106 agreement with the Glebe Farm development – now earmarked for up to 525 homes – will see £4,780,000 paid towards the bypass or other town centre transport measures upon occupation of 20 per cent, 40 per cent, 60 per cent and 80 per cent of the homes.

The new agreement is an update on the initial section 106 wording, which would have seen the money delivered in one lump sum upon first occupation.

However, due to the bypass project being passed from private to council hands, Cheshire East Council’s head of planning regulation David Malcolm saw fit to request the change.

A report reads: “Since the strategic planning board resolution [in 2014] the S106 negotiations have stalled because of the way in which the Middlewich Eastern Bypass (MEB) is intended to be delivered.”

An officer said: “Although three years have passed since the application was first determined at strategic planning board, the principle of development is still considered to be acceptable... in fact arguably more acceptable.”

Glebe Farm, in Booth Lane, is a strategic site on the emerging CEC local plan, with a recent revision raising the number of allocated homes from 450 to 525.

With staggered payments, members raised concerns that construction of the bypass would not begin until the final payment was made, which could be years into the future depending on the developers’ actions.

However, reassurances were made that the S106 monies were in effect a central CEC pot, and that commencing construction of the bypass was not dependent on money from the Glebe Farm agreement.

The new S106 agreement states that the Glebe Farm development will result in ‘a contribution towards Middlewich Eastern Bypass of £4,780,000’.

It adds: “If the MEB is not delivered the sum will be spent on the following highway/sustainability measures: bus service/facility improvements; Town Bridge signal junction improvements; towpath cycle lanes: Middlewich to Glebe Farm; cycle lanes carriageway modification: Middlewich to Glebe Farm; and towpath cycle lanes: Glebe Farm to Elworth.

“The sum is to be paid in four equal stages on the first occupation of 20 per cent, 40 per cent, 60 per cent and 80 per cent of the dwellings approved on the site at the reserved matters stage.”

An outline business case for the bypass was submitted to the Department for Transport in April, with the council hoping to receive funds from the Government.

As reported by the Guardian last month, the submission to the DfT featured two routes - the original and the new ‘preferred’ option, which travels further east.

If successful in its bid, CEC would receive £47 million towards the project, with a projected completion date of late 2020.