š Rail
In rail news, the Office of Rail and Road has rejected plans for a new train service from a village in Hampshire to London Waterloo. The bid included the new rail line going from London Waterloo to Marchwood but was dismissed due to the extensive infrastructure work which would be required. In Ireland, Transport Infrastructure Ireland has commenced procurement for Dublin MetroLink. The planned Ā£8.4Bn project will cover several work streams including operation of the metro service for the next 25 years. Elsewhere, passengers will be able to travel on trains from Cambridge South Station from 28 June. The Ā£250M project has been under construction since 2023 and will include up to 20 services at peak times.
ā”Energy
In offshore wind news, the UK government has delayed the decision on the DCO application for two neighbouring wind farms. The 430MW Morecambe wind farm and the neighbouring 1.5GW Morgan array, both located off the north-west coast of England in the Irish Sea, were supposed to receive the decision on 14 May. A decision is now expected on 14 September. Also in wind farm news, the UK government have given the go-ahead for two projects off east England. These are RWE and Masdarās 3GW Dogger Bank South and RWE and SSEās 1GW North Falls developments.
š Roads
The Governmentās new Ā£1Bn Structures Fund will commence with a Ā£50M upgrade of the M53 in the North West. The wider project is to repair ageing motorway structures. The M53 works will take three years to complete. Elsewhere, works on the M80 are going to enforce overnight carriageway closures until early July. The night closures for the gantry replacement works, which are taking place between junctions 7 and 9, were not initially plan but are now being put in place for safety reasons; as thousands of drivers ignored the temporary speed restrictions implemented.
š Property and development
Birmingham City Council has signed a contract with housing specialist Lovell to lead the Ā£1Bn regeneration of the Druid Heath estate. The development will include 3,500 houses with the agreement requiring 51% of them to be affordable. Elsewhere, Capital&Centric have published final plans for a town centre redevelopment in Buxton. The project, worth up to Ā£100M is planning to turn The Springs shopping centre into a residential-led neighbourhood.
š§Water
In water news, Van Oord UK and Hertfordshire-based VBA Joint Venture have secured contracts to deliver coastal maintenance and beach management works across England. The framework will cover both routine and emergency works and is worth up to Ā£1.2Bn. The contract is in place until 2032 with the option to extend for a further two years. In other news, the planned Abingdon Reservoir has advanced to the next stage of its DCO application. It has passed the first three gates of the Rapid application process, so now has progressed to the next phase; which includes an allowance of Ā£298M for support work for this stage of the application. Finally, Scottish Water has appointed seven firms to enhance Scotlandās water and waste water assets over the period from 2027 to 2033. This delivery period will be part of the larger Ā£8Bn investment outlined in the 2027-2033 business plan.