A66 Trans-Pennine Supplementary Design Consultation: Appleby to Brough

Overview

Investing in your roads

At National Highways, we believe in a connected country where our network makes these connections happen. Our roads link with railway stations, ports and airports to give people a choice of travel and to support interconnectivity. When it comes to getting people where they need to be, we provide three times more miles per person than the railways.

We operate, maintain and improve England’s motorways and major A-roads and our network totals around 4,300 miles. While this represents only 2% of all roads in England by length, these roads carry a third of all traffic by mileage and two-thirds of all heavy goods traffic.

Our road network forms the economic back bone of the country, is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is relied on by communities and businesses to get from A to B.

Our 1,200-mile network across the north of England stretches from big cities like Manchester and Newcastle to the rural, single carriageways of Cumbria and Northumberland. It is one of the most diverse areas of motorways and major A-roads in the country to maintain and keep moving, so that we all get home safely. We also support local tourism, connecting the millions of holidaymakers who travel across the country to visit hotspots like the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales every year.

A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project

The planned improvement of the A66 plays a major part in our £27.4bn Roads Investment Strategy (RIS). It is the biggest investment in the north’s road network for a generation and is key to the Government’s Build Back Better and Northern Powerhouse plans, helping support local and regional growth. This huge investment will help level up the regional economic differences across parts of the UK.

The work we will deliver through this project will bring far-reaching benefits to those that use and live near the route. It will provide improved connections between Cumbria, Tees Valley and Tyne and Wear, but also routes between Scotland and the major towns and cities across the north. Critical national freight journeys will also be made more reliable. By providing better links, we will unlock access to tourism, jobs, essential services and new opportunities.

There are important choices to be made before the plans are submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in the form of an application fora Development Consent Order and a decision is reached by the Secretary of State for Transport. It is vital we listen to feedback from the people that live and work in the area and incorporate this into further design work.

Appleby to Brough 

The A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project is planning on dualling the remaining single carriageway sections on the route between M6 junction 40 at Penrith and A1(M) at Scotch Corner.

Last autumn, we held a Design Consultation about our plans and we’ve been really pleased by how local communities and stakeholders got involved. Lots of feedback was received to help us improve the design before we submit the Development Consent Order which is the planning permission we need to build the project.

Since our earlier 2021 Design Consultation, we have been reviewing your feedback, working further on developing the design and completing surveys to help us gain a better understanding of areas including environment, ecology, heritage and drainage.

We have now identified a number of opportunities in various locations where the design can be revised to improve aspects such as community connectivity, environmental and land impacts.

Another chance to have your say

On the Appleby to Brough scheme, we are looking to make changes to two parts of the route – the western section of route local to Sandford junction and central section in the vicinity of Moor Beck.

As these are considerable changes to the design that we presented in the autumn, we are carrying out a supplementary consultation. This consultation will give you the opportunity to tell us your thoughts about these changes specifically.

You can learn more about our proposals before submitting your views by reading our Supplementary Consultation Brochure. 

What we are proposing

Warcop west: On the western section at Warcop we are proposing build the additional carriage to the north of the existing A66 rather than the south. This change is in response to feedback from the autumn consultation and will reduce the impact on properties and land to the south and on the Roman Camp.

Warcop central: In the central section design is changing to make the structure slightly higher in this location. This will help us to mitigate environmental issues with the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) associated with the River Eden.

Appleby - Brough Proposed Route Alignment at Warcop Map 1

Please note that this is an updated plan showing a minor correction to the access track at the Sandford Junction.

Appleby - Brough Proposed Route Alignment at Warcop Map 2

Please note that this is an updated plan showing a minor correction to the access track at the Sandford Junction.

Appleby - Brough Proposed Route Alignment at Warcop Map 3

Please note that this is an updated plan showing a minor correction to the access track at the Sandford Junction.

Developed proposals: Appleby to Brough 

This project represents one of the largest and most important highways investments in the north of England in a generation. The A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) by the UK Government under the Planning Act 2008. As such, Highways England are required to make an application for a Development Consent Order to obtain permission to construct and operate the new A66.

Our Appleby to Brough Supplementary Consultation Brochure explains our proposals for the proposed scheme. We also provide you with details of how you can give us your feedback during our public consultation. Your responses will help us shape the proposals before we submit our Development Consent Order application.

For more supporting information, including Preliminary Environmental Information, Route Development Reports and Construction Methods from our earlier consultation in 2021, please click on the link below.

Why your views matter

Road infrastructure improvements affect everyone. They help us move around our country and connect with one another. It’s essential that we understand your views, so we can ensure we deliver the right schemes.

Public consultation plays a vital part in the development of scheme design. Your feedback on this consultation will help us understand how the proposed options impact road users and the local community. You will be helping to shape the scheme and maximise the benefits as we progress the design.

Projects of this size and importance need a Development Consent Order (DCO). Before we can submit an application for a DCO, we consult with road users, the local community and other stakeholders on our proposals for the scheme.

Another opportunity to join the conversation

Further to our Preferred Route Announcement in 2020, and our Design Consultation in 2021, your views are really important to us, so we’ll be consulting with you between Friday 28 January to and Sunday 27 February. This will provide you with the opportunity to find out more about our proposals and have your say about them.

Depending on any Government COVID-19 guidelines, we’re planning on hosting two drop-in sessions at Warcop Village Hall on Monday 7 February from 3pm to 7pm and Tuesday 8 February 8am to 2pm. There will be further details of the plans and members of the project team will be on hand to answer your questions. You can also provide your feedback or collect a form and freepost envelope to fill in at home.

If you can’t make the drop-in sessions and don’t have access to the internet, we’ll leave hard copies of the supplementary consultation brochure and feedback form at the below local deposit points:

Sandford: Sandford Arms, Appleby-in-Westmorland CA16 6NR

Brough: St. Michael’s Church, Brough CA17 4EJ

Please check opening times with the venue before you travel. You can also call or email us to request a hard copy of the brochure. If you have any specific questions, you can contact us by email on: A66NTP@highwaysengland.co.uk or call us on 0333 090 1192.

Development Consent

The A66 Northern Trans-Pennine scheme is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the Planning Act 2008. This means that we are required to make an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to obtain permission to construct our proposed improvements.

Before we can submit an application for a DCO, we must formally consult the local community and other stakeholders on our proposals for the scheme and the likely significant environmental effects based on the information available at the time.

Following our preliminary design consultation, a development consent application will then be made to the Planning Inspectorate, who will examine our proposals. The examination process is likely to involve public hearings. Following the examination, the Planning Inspectorate will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Transport, who will decide whether the project will go ahead.

Our application for development consent will be made on the full route between M6 junction 40 to Kemplay Bank and A1(M) junction 53 Scotch Corner and we intend to submit our application for development consent in spring 2022. Subject to development approval, we expect to start construction in 2024.

In our Appleby to Brough Supplementary Consultation Brochure, we explain the proposals for the scheme. We also provide you with details of how you can give us your feedback during our public consultation. Your responses will help us shape the proposals before we submit our DCO application.

To help us shape the final design in preparation of the submission to the Planning Inspectorate, it is important you are involved now and submit your response by 11.59pm on 27 February 2022.

Further information on the DCO process can be found on the National Infrastructure Planning website and also in our animation video below:

What happens next

Once our public consultation closes we will take time to analyse and consider your views when making further refinements to the proposed design and to develop our planned mitigation measures. We will set out a summary of the responses and describe how the proposals have been informed by and influenced by them in a consultation report. This will form part of our application for development consent and will also be available to the public following submission of the application.

Subject to completing necessary development works, we anticipate submitting a DCO application in spring 2022 to the Planning Inspectorate, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport (SoS), who will examine the application and hold some public hearings, before making a recommendation to the SoS, who will decide on whether or not the proposed scheme will go ahead.

Related documents 

There are many documents available as part of this public consultation, including the Appleby to Brough Supplementary Consultation Brochure and supporting information which can be found in the Related Documents section at the bottom of this page.

For more supporting information, including Preliminary Environmental Information, Route Development Reports and Construction Methods from our earlier consultation in 2021, please click on the link below.

Please note that some documents are larger than others and may need additional time to download before they are fully visible. You can access a more accessible and user friendly version of the consultation brochure below however if you experience any issues accessing any materials, require alternative formats of our consultation materials, additional copies, or require materials posting to you, please get in touch with our project team by emailing A66NTP@highwaysengland.co.uk or by calling 0333 090 1192.