The Norfolk Chamber welcomes the recent visit of Robert Goodwill, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport. He was invited by the A47 Alliance to see the shortcomings of the A47 for himself.
The A47 Alliance – the campaigning organisation representing local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships, Chambers, businesses and road users along the A47and A12 from Peterborough to Lowestoft – has provided the Minister with an updated A47 prospectus. It sets out the economic, road safety, travel and transport benefits of improving the road, and the Alliance’s improvement priorities.
The prospectus calls for £416m of targeted improvements over the next six years, and a commitment to fully dual A47 – estimated to cost £1.4bn – in the longer term.
Dualling the whole route would cut nearly an hour (55 mins) off journey times, but a selected improvements on the A47 and A12 between Peterborough and Lowestoft, would, within 20 years, lead to:
- 16,890 more jobs in the area,
- 10,585 new homes
- An annual £706m boost in economic output (GVA).
The improvements would support the Enterprise Zone at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft (set to deliver 10,000 jobs in 25 years) and the Greater Norwich City Deal (set to deliver 40,000 jobs by 2031)..
The Minister is due to travel the entire length of the A47 trunk road, including the A12 from Lowestoft to Great Yarmouth, through to the A1 in Peterborough. Mr Goodwill will be meeting local MPs all along the route, with the visit having been arranged by George Freeman MP.
This visit is one of a small number that the Minister will make to trunk roads that are in the vanguard of improvement feasibility studies ordered by the Government to inform spending decisions in time for the Autumn Statement.*
The A47 Alliance, led by Norfolk County Council, has refreshed its Business Case prospectus in time for the visit. Freshly commissioned analysis shows that a fully dualled A47 offers high value for money with certain schemes categorised as ‘very high’. Current government guidance suggests that high value for money is a prerequisite for funding.
Comments from Norfolk members of the A47 Alliance:
Norfolk County Council Toby Coke, Chairman of Norfolk County Council’s Environment, Development and Transport Committee, said: “What we need is a firm commitment to fund the upgrading of the entire A47. The Government talks about infrastructure improvement, and it is needed here in Norfolk and our neighbouring counties now.
“Dualling the last section of the A11 is a welcome start, but only a start. Self evidently the money is there to upgrade the whole of the A47 and A12 from the A1 to Lowestoft – it simply depends on what the Government’s priorities are. If the Government is really prepared to make road infrastructure investment in this country its first priority, it has the chance to prove it by committing to £416m of key A47 improvements over the next six years, and a fully dualled A47 in the longer term.
“Our new A47 prospectus shows that this would be a good use of taxpayers’ money, bringing real improvements for people who have put up with a sub-standard road for far too long, and a major economic boost for the whole area.”
Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Alliance Vice-Chairman Vivienne Spikings, Portfolio holder for Development on the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, said: “A high quality, dualled A47 would be an asset to King’s Lynn and west Norfolk. At the moment it is a liability.
“Anyone who lives and works around King’s Lynn knows that the A47 is simply not fit for purpose in the 21st century. Not only do villages such as Middleton and East Winch desperately need to be bypassed, but the overloaded junctions around King’s Lynn and poor quality of much of the route must be tackled to stimulate investment and economic growth”
