'˜Let's get Leeds £100m orbital road plan into gear'

The calls come after the YEP reported that Leeds City Council was considering entering into a groundbreaking deal with insurance giant Legal & General to fund the dual carriageway, which is expected to cost more than £100m to build.

The agreement, which would be the first of its kind in the country, would see the investment repaid using cash paid by developers building on land unlocked by the new road.

A meeting of the council’s executive board heard that a planning application for the route could be submitted by summer this year. Construction could start in spring 2018 with completion late in 2021,

However commentators say that despite the ambitious targets, developers have so far been very reluctant to submit plans for land along the new orbital road.

Opposition Tory group leader Andrew Carter said it was important to kickstart developer interest in building homes to in turn speed up the arrival of the road.

He said it was especially “disappointing” to see that even though many key sites have been released for housing by the council, “not a spade or a digger is to be seen from our friends the developers, who tell us we don’t release enough land for housing”.

“I thought ‘Hallelujah, it’s all systems go’ but in fact it’s not,” he said.

“This has to be progressed and has to be progressed quickly.”

He added: “Would none of these sites be capable of starting construction until the road is completed? Because my understanding is that is not the case.”