At a recent meeting of the Chamber’s Transport & Infrastructure Group, the members reviewed both road and rail transport.
Jonathan Denby, Greater Anglia’s Head of Corporate Affairs provided an update on the Greater Anglia Rail Franchise and what it planned to deliver over the duration of its 9 year franchise. He gave an overview of what the new transformational franchise aimed to achieve, including the replacement of the entire fleet with new rolling stock and an outline of the infrastructure needed to ensure the success of the Great Eastern Mainline.
The group also reviewed Highway England’s discussion paper on their emerging strategic economic growth plan. The group were concerned that several key income generating sectors did not appear to have been taken into account when considering the areas of Highway England’s research. The agricultural sector was not mentioned, yet Norfolk is one of the largest food producers in the UK. Additionally there wasn’t a map of showing regional GDP, which Chamber Group felt would be an essential perspective in assessing how the road network should support various regions.
Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber said:
“A formal submission was made via the Highways England online consultation, but I also had the opportunity to highlight our views at a subsequent meeting, in London together with the British Chambers, where I was able to directly feedback to Elise Lewis, the Divisional Director for Strategy & Planning at Highways England. Ms Lewis advised that the consultation document was a condensed version and the points we had made had already been taken into account. We await the final publication in Spring 2017.”
The next meeting of the Transport & Infrastructure Group will be held on 10 April.
