COUNCIL chiefs are to plough ahead with the compulsory purchase of land involved in the £38m Poynton Relief Road (PRR).

Cheshire East Council cannot begin construction until it owns all the land involved in the 3km link between London Road at Adlington and the forthcoming Manchester Airport Relief Road (A6MARR).

While it continues to negotiate sales the council has launched a legal process for a compulsory purchase order (CPO), which could force 15 land owners to sell up.

This process could take up to a year to resolve as it may involve a planning inquiry before a final decision is made by the Government.

At a cabinet meeting councillors agreed to pursue the CPO for 42 hectares of land. Officers were also instructed to make a legal agreement which will see the council create a new nine hole golf course to replace holes which will be lost in the scheme.

In a report Frank Jordan, executive director of place, said the COP covers mainly agricultural land.

He said: “Whilst acquisition by agreement will be pursued, initiating the CPO process over the entire land holding that is required to implement the scheme offers certainty should parallel negotiations to acquire the land voluntarily not be successful.”

The Poynton Relief Road aims to boost transport links to Macclesfield and cut traffic through Poynton.

The scheme, a joint application by Cheshire East and Stockport councils, has already got planning permission.

The new road will run from a junction of the A6 south under the A5149 Chester Road, across the Woodford aerodrome runway and past Adlington Business Park before connecting to a new roundabout junction to the west of the Travel Lodge.

Links from this roundabout would allow the relief road to connect into the A523 London Road and Adlington Golf Centre.

Construction will take 14 months and could start as early as 2019. Meanwhile, transport bosses say the full opening of the Manchester Airport Relief Road, which includes a link to the PRR, has been delayed because of too much rain.

The £300 million bypass, which runs from the A6 in Hazel Grove to the M56 via the existing A555 in Bramhall, will be opening in spring next year.