THE proposed Bordesley bypass scheme came a step nearer on Monday as Redditch Council confirmed it would contribute £4.6 million towards it and laid out a provisional three-year timetable for its completion.

In its bid to get the project off the ground, the council would take a loan which it would repay over a number of years.

The rest of the cash is likely to come from the developers of the proposed Abbey Stadium complex. The full cost of the road is not known at this stage, though it could be £10 million or more.

The success of a forthcoming planning inquiry into the ambitious Abbey Stadium development partly relies on confirmation that the 2.4km A441 bypass could be realistically funded and built.

Bordesley residents living along the busy A441 have been calling for a relief road for years.

The new single carriageway road would run from the Cobbs Barn roundabout at the southern tip of the Alvechurch bypass, around the back of homes to the west of Bordesley and rejoin the current A441 at a roundabout near Weights Lane.

A report prepared for Monday's full council meeting said officers hoped to come to an agreement with landowners over the route, though Worcestershire County Council has compulsory purchase powers to acquire the land if necessary.

The route would mainly lie within Bromsgrove Council's district and is already safeguarded in the Worcestershire Structure Plan up until 2011, though plans would have to be re-examined in full if it goes ahead.

Council Leader David Cartwright welcomed Monday's decision.

Meanwhile, Conservative environment and transport spokesman Christopher Chope visited Weights Lane and Bordesley yesterday to discuss the route with Tory prospective Parliamentary candidates Karen Lumley (Redditch) and Julie Kirkbride (Bromsgrove).