Government ministers visited Morecambe to announce that Lancashire had been given the lion’s share of significant funding to improve its road, rail and bus transport network.
Esther McVeigh was in the town on Monday to launch the Government’s Local Transport Fund, giving Lancashire almost half a million, the most of any county.
The cash will come from funding reallocated following the cancellation of the planned HS2 high-speed rail link in the north last year.
Ms McVeigh, who is also known for her work as a TV presenter and was appointed to Rishi Sunak’s cabinet as a minister without portfolios in November, spoke to Beyond Radio during the visit.
Listen to our interview with Esther McVeigh
“When HS2 was canceled last year, the Prime Minister said the money would go to local projects,” she said.
Asked whether the amount showed the government recognized there was a problem with transport in Lancashire, she said:
“I think we’re saying this region needs money, it’s going to be money well spent, and we think it’s worth the money.”
McVeigh said local leaders, including councilors, will have a say in how the money is spent on “the most important projects.”
North Lancashire’s biggest issues include improving the condition of roads and public transport links to the planned Eden Project Morecambe, including a campaign to electrify the Lancaster to Morecambe rail line. .
Mr McVeigh, who visited the Eden site on the Promenade during his visit, said: “That’s something we’ve already talked about today – how can we best connect with the Eden project?
“But remember about road paving and potholes, they were already funded last year and will be funded even more this year. So I told council leaders that they What are you doing? They keep saying they have the money. Fill those holes!’
Speaking about the Eden Project in Morecambe, she said: “I think this is visionary. You see what’s being done in Cornwall? It’s educational, it’s environmental, it’s cultural.”
“Look at how much support we give to businesses, how many people get jobs there, how many schools get education support and how many apprentices there are. It’s going to help transform the area. It’s a beautiful area and this is going to make it even better.”
Morecambe and Luonsdale MP David Morris said he wanted transport funding to be spent on “Railway to Eden”.
Listen to David Morris speak on Monday’s Beyond Radio
Lancaster Civic Vision, a group that champions the region’s past and future, is campaigning for the re-electrification of the Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham railway line to ensure faster and more comfortable rail travel for visitors to Eden. We are doing
Mr Morris said on Monday: “I would like to see some new rail facilities here, a new station. This is a sign that Morecambe is moving forward and the Eden project is starting.”
Ms McVeigh’s visit began at the Platform, where she met with members of the Eden Project team, project partners Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council and Lancaster University, as well as local business and community leaders.
From 2025, the Regional Transportation Fund (LTF) will fund a wide range of projects to improve the local transport links people use every day, especially in towns, villages and rural areas.
Over the next seven years from April 2025, the Regional Transport Authority (LTA) The North will receive £2.5 billion. Lancashire will receive £494.4m. This is on top of the £6.101 million it already receives each year from the government for transport, which is also the highest amount of any local authority county.
A government spokesperson said: “This is in addition to the local transport, road and rail budgets allocated in the last spending review and is in addition to what these organizations were expecting over the next 10 years. ”.
This funding is in addition to previously announced highway maintenance funding and bus service improvement plans.
The Government aims to raise funds to:
- Driving greater connectivity within towns, suburbs and cities
- Improve connectivity between towns and cities
- Improving people’s daily regional mobility
Earlier this year, Beyond Radio revealed the shocking state of potholed roads in Lancaster and Morecambe.
Margaret Pattison, Labor councilor for Morecambe, accused the Conservative-led county council of “ignoring” an independent report into the state of the country’s roads.
But the Tory cabinet member for highways and transport said millions of pounds more had been poured into road repairs and Lancashire Highways teams had filled “more holes than ever before”.
Read more: https://www.beyondradio.co.uk/news/local-news/anger-at-shocking-state-of-lancaster-and-morecambe-roads-in-worst-condition-for-years/
The decision not to build HS2 beyond the Midlands was criticized as making a mockery of “levelling up” and a “northern power” pledge.
The high-speed track will now run between London and Birmingham, but the Manchester section will be scrapped due to concerns over rising costs.
Downing Street said Mr Sunak would tell the Cabinet that MPs and ministers need to “hold local authorities to account” for how the new money is spent.
But Labor called Monday’s announcement “a flipside of the stupid packet plan”.
“The Conservative Party has failed and local people are fed up with a government that treats them like fools,” said Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Hay.
“After 14 years and countless broken promises, only the Conservatives can promise further ‘transformation’ of transport infrastructure in the Midlands and North.”
Mr Hague said Labor would “take back control of our buses, return our railways to public ownership when our contracts expire, and give all communities the power to demand London-style services”.