Transport Secretary Mark Harper Visits Shrewsbury and Talks About The North West Relief Road

Shropshire Star

Transcript

00:00Well look, we backed that project. I was interviewed last year about it, made it very clear.

00:05It was in our Network North document. It's worth just saying on that dividing line that

00:09you raise, Labour hasn't committed to doing any of the things that we set out in that

00:14document. They're still on the fence about HS2. We made a clear decision, cancelled the

00:19second phase, but used, reinvested every penny in transport in the North and the Midlands

00:26and the North West Relief Road was part of that investment. So with us it's clear. You

00:31vote for Daniel, you get a Conservative government, we deliver on those plans that were set out

00:36and the North West Relief Road is one of them. Labour hasn't committed to delivering what's

00:41in that document and the money that it will take to deliver it. So you can go and ask

00:46a Labour person whether they're committed to it or not and see what they say, but they

00:50haven't committed to the plans that we set out in that document and the funding that

00:53we've freed up where we've said it's all going to be invested in transport.

00:56Well my view, and this is the government's view, is that transport is an economic enabler.

01:01It's part of growing the economy. So the point about the transport investment, whether it's

01:06in road improvements, whether it's in the quality of roads, whether it's in new roads,

01:11whether it's in buses, we put a lot of money into buses, the most popular form of public

01:15transport, or in rail, it's about getting the economy to work better, enabling people

01:21to get to work, run their businesses more effectively. So it's actually about growing

01:25the economy and that's why we're putting that investment into those transport projects set

01:29out in our command paper last year.

01:31Our general view is, if they were in the Network North document, then they are commitments

01:35that we will deliver on. We've set out a clear number of plans there on rail, on the money

01:42that's going to regional mayors, and also in the North and the Midlands, so in this

01:46area the county council got a significant commitment for the local transport fund over

01:52the next seven years, starting from next year, which gives Shropshire County Council a significant

01:58amount of money that it can use on its local priorities, so the things that matter to people

02:04who live in Shrewsbury, but also in the rest of the county, and those will be local priorities

02:09that councillors will set, but working with members of parliament, like I hope Daniel

02:14will be after the general election, to shape what that money is spent on, and that is a

02:19significant amount of money they've never had before, and it's deliberately to make

02:23sure those projects are spent on what local people value and want.

02:27We've been very clear we want to deliver the project and we're going to deliver it. I mean

02:30clearly we have processes in place. The reason why, I know sometimes the public, it may be

02:34frustrating, you have an outline business case and a final business case, is to go through

02:38and test the benefits from the project, you know, the costs of it. Obviously we want to

02:45get the costs down to the lowest sensible level, and you obviously want to make sure

02:49the benefits are as high as possible, and that work, I think taxpayers, it's their money,

02:53they'd expect you to do that due diligence, both the government and the council, but we've

02:58been clear that we want to deliver this project, so with a Conservative member of parliament

03:01and a Conservative government, the North West Relief Road will be delivered.

03:06Can I just add though how pleased we are that the Secretary of State has taken time

03:10out in his very busy diary during the election campaign to come to Shrewsbury. We're obviously

03:16taking him to meet with the leader of the council, and the deputy leader of the council,

03:21and the portfolio holder for Highways, Councillor Dan Morris. He is going to have lunch with

03:27the three of them, and they will be discussing this issue, and obviously we're very grateful

03:32that he's made the time to engage with them directly, as he awaits their business case,

03:38which is due in September. I mean, some years ago the Shrewsbury Chamber of Commerce came

03:45to see me, the late Graeme Galliers, the head of the Shrewsbury Chamber of Commerce, told

03:50me some years ago, this is a critical infrastructure project that you as the member of parliament

03:55need to get behind. We have a huge amount of people coming to live in Shrewsbury from

04:01the back country, the population of Shrewsbury is expanding significantly, and we have to

04:07think like the Victorians. This is a medieval town which is struggling to cope with the

04:14inflow of people and the additional traffic, and the north-west relief road, the completion

04:18of the ring road around Shrewsbury, is critical not just for us, but for future generations

04:24who will continue to see a significant expansion of this town.

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