THE leader of Halton Council said the council can find the money for the Mersey Gateway Project despite a £22m shortfall during the next two years.
The funding issue was discussed at an update meeting yesterday which also heard the public inquiry had been delayed by two months to May.
Cllr Tony McDermott said the rising costs of land acquisition would put a strain on the council, but there was no money crisis.
The cost of buying land needed to build the new bridge is estimated to be around £28m.
A full funding grant is expected to be issued by the Regional Funding Allocation, but not until April, 2011.
This means the council faces a short-term funding gap, and needs to find £22m on top of the £6m already identified in the current capital budget.
Cllr McDermott said: “The costs of land acquisitions shouldn’t be a problem, but the way in which the funding is allocated gives us a problem over the next two years.
“We’re stepping on the gas and buying land but there is no overall shortfall. The schedule of the money means we won’t get the big chunk until 2011, 2012 and 2013.
“We’ve found the money so far, £16m in development costs and I’m confident we are well-funded.
“We are talking about capi-tal, not revenue costs. This will put a strain upon us, but there is no crisis, and I’m confident we can work within our budget and look after our taxpayers.”
Most of the land acquisition costs are expected to fall in 2010, but Halton is planning to put £6m in place as soon as possible, then review the balance of £16m at the end of this year.
Preparations for the public inquiry were also discussed, with the time-tabling of the inquiry now lying with the Department for Transport (DfT).
The timetable required the DfT to issue the terms for the inquiry before December 23, but this has now been extended until February 23.
The reason given is to allow the tolling proposals for the new bridge to be reviewed against the toll on the existing bridge.
A decision on that is expected in March, so the inquiry will start in May.
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