Businesses in 'limbo' amid M5 junction funding gap

A woman who runs two businesses near the M5 has said she feels in "limbo" as a council tries to plug a funding gap for a major junction upgrade.

Currently, drivers can only access the M5 northbound from junction 10 near Cheltenham but the £363m project would allow them to drive on and off both northbound and southbound.

Despite a Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) report revealing the cost of the project hadrisen by £110m, construction began in October with GCC hoping to secure £70m in extra funding from the government.

Sara Gardner said the current infrastructure "isn't good enough" while Lisa Spivey, GCC leader, said the council was trying to persuade the government the work was necessary.

Homes England - which is responsible for funding the upgrade - said the request for additional money is being processed and it cannot "provide any updates".

Ms Gardner runs a storage business and a removal company near the junction. She is also one of two households remaining on Stanboro Lane where everyone else has moved to make way for the work.

"We have queues into Cheltenham every morning, there's accidents with people coming off the slip lane off the junction," Ms Gardner said.

"Our local community's been quite devastated with the plans that they've put through... obviously people need to move out.

"There's plans that need to be put in place, but if that doesn't then get replenished with new housing, new infrastructure, we're kind of living in this limbo state."

GCC said the rise in costs had been driven partly by inflation and extended deadlines.

Councillor Julian Tooke previously admitted there was a "financial risk" by starting work before having all the funds in place.

GCC hopes the upgrade will provide a multi-million pound boost for jobs and housing in the area.

Spivey said: "We've been really, really keen and put money at risk this autumn, in order to keep the project going.

"There has been inflation rate pressure, which meant the overall cost of the project went up; that sometimes happens when things get stalled or delayed."

Max Wilkinson, MP for Cheltenham, said the situation raises "really serious concerns about what happens next" regarding the local plan.

He said: "If there is no infrastructure - the motorway junction - to support that, then my strong suspicion is the councils will have to go back to the government and say, 'What do you want us to do now? Because, clearly, we're not going to be able to deliver what we say we're going to deliver'."

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