Continuing costs of the cancelled A1 dualling including demolition/sale of properties
Case reference EIR2025/00666
Received 3 April 2025
Published 12 June 2025
Request
Please provide a total figure for expenditure on the now cancelled project to dual the A1 between Morpeth and Ellingham from October 30th 2024 when the scheme was cancelled to date.
Please also provide the most up to date figure for complete expenditure on the project.
Please could you also give the estimated cost for the demolition of Charlton Mires farmhouse as required by planning permission now having been granted to Martin Beal for a new farmhouse, and your plans for the neighbouring East Cottage at Charlton and North Gate House, Morpeth the three properties purchased by National Highways.
Please could you also provide the current monthly cost of ownership of the three properties, including insurance, bills, council tax and any other maintenance carried out.
Response
Information provided
Please provide a total figure for expenditure on the now cancelled project to dual the A1 between Morpeth and Ellingham from October 30th 2024 when the scheme was cancelled to date.
The costs between cancellation and when your request was received on 3 April 2025 is £146,613.
Please also provide the most up to date figure for complete expenditure on the project.
Total costs to when your request was received on 3 April 2025 are £68,730,555
Your plans for the neighbouring East Cottage at Charlton and North Gate House, Morpeth the three properties purchased by National Highways as I understand from the previous owners they have not yet been offered the opportunity to buy their homes back.
In relation to the holding costs, National Highways are still developing a strategy for these properties. Should they be deemed surplus in future and the crichel down rules apply they will be offered back to the previous owners at the current market value. Please could you also provide the current monthly cost of ownership of the three properties, including insurance, bills, council tax and any other maintenance carried out. The current monthly costs of holding the Northgate and East Cottage properties based on the current council tax charges and looking at the previous 12 months expenditure is £2,691.39 per month.
In addition to these holdings costs our managing agents receive a management fee of £2,566.69 per vacant property per annum this is the 2024 / 2025 figure and will be subject to an rpi increase shortly but this would add £427.78 per month to the above figure producing a total holding costs of £3,119.17 per month.
Information not held
Please could you also give the estimated cost for the demolition of Charlton Mires farmhouse- as required by planning permission now having been granted to Martin Beal for a new farmhouse.
We can confirm that National Highways does not hold this information, and as such this part of your request has been refused under Regulation 12(4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 as information not held.
The reason for this is that the cost has yet to be quoted aligning with the planning permission dates (within 6 months of occupation and not building has started yet). We can advise that previous costs would have been included in the price for all scheme clearance with the contractor which was £106.7k in 2022.
We also do not hold any costs for the Charlton Mires as the purchase of the property has only recently completed and the custodianship of the property is currently sat with the Project Team. However, we estimate that the Project Team will be receiving a council tax bill shortly which will approx. £4,461.24 based on the fact that the property has been vacant for between 1 and 5 years and Northumberland charge a 200% premium when a property has been vacant for that length of time.
Documents
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