M3 Contractor Compound
Highways England M3 junction 9 to 14 motorway upgrade project
Hampshire County Council have contacted the Parish Council with details of a temporary contractor’s compound that will soon be set up on the field adjacent to the Badger Farm road near the Bushfield roundabout.
HCC are at pains to point out that this is a normal part of a motorway project of this kind and has no link whatsoever with any other plans in the area which other parties might be floating.
If you were here during the initial construction of the M3 round Winchester in the early 1990s, you will remember that the contractor’s compound for those works was on the site of what is now the South Park & Ride.
M3 contractor compound
HCC tell us:
Hampshire County Council has recently agreed to lease land to Balfour Beatty, acting for Highways England, to accommodate a temporary contractor’s compound ahead of Highways England starting work on their motorway upgrade project on the M3 from junctions 9 to 14.
Balfour Beatty intend to use the site for temporary office and welfare facilities for their workers, alongside materials and machinery. The location of the site is on the corner of the Badger Farm and Otterbourne Roads, Compton.
This arrangement is due to start from June and Balfour Beatty has advised they expect to remain at the site until late 2024.
The land currently forms part of Attwoods Drove and Bushfield farms and is part of a currently vacant county farm tenancy.
Our (HCC’s) aim is to let the remainder of the site to a new tenant farmer later this year.
The contract with Highways England also states that the land will be fully reinstated for agricultural use after the site is vacated enabling it to be re-occupied for county farms use.
Balfour Beatty/Highways England intends to write this week to around 260 residents local to this site to inform people of these plans. The letter will set out that from June 1, the first activity on the site will be exploration work by archaeologists using an excavator, in agreement with the Historic Environment Team at Winchester City Council.
This type of exploration is a routine element ahead of planned works of this nature.
Further updates will follow once the results of these explorations are known.
The management of the compound would sit with Balfour Beatty including measures and mitigations to ensure any potential impact to people living nearby is kept to a minimum.
Balfour Beatty/Highways England are in the process of seeking all relevant highways approvals.
This is the text of the letter which will go to 260 residents on 1 June 2021
More information
You can find out more about the plans by visiting Highways England’s website at: https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/south-east/m3-junctions-9-to-14-smart-motorway/