The Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) published its Strategic Transport Investment Plan last month, setting out ambitious plans to improve local transport links in south Hampshire. These include better rail links between Southampton and Portsmouth, upgrades to congested junctions on the M27 and a new bus rapid transport network.
I have met with local MPs and with the Solent LEP, to discuss the plan, and the Partnership’s efforts to secure funding from the Government’s latest round of Growth Deals. The Department for Communities and Local Government has opened the competition process for the money, and the LEP is currently putting together its bid.
It’s clear we need better and more convenient transport links in the Solent region. In Fareham we’re ideally located to be an important transport interchange, being almost equidistant between Portsmouth and Southampton. However, at the moment it can be quicker to get to Gatwick than Southampton airport by car from here. On the roads, we urgently need to upgrade junctions 9 and 10 of the M27, particularly with the planned new developments at Welborne and Whiteley. We’ve had some promising signs on that, but we need to keep up the pressure on the Government and work with Hampshire County Council to get it done. It’s really important that we invest in new local transport infrastructure, so we can continue to support economic growth and new jobs. It will also make a real difference to people’s quality of life.
I congratulate the Solent LEP on the impressive work they’ve done so far on putting together this bid for funding, but there is still a lot more to do. The plan contains some genuinely imaginative proposals, and I will be doing all I can along with my colleagues from around the region to lobby government for the extra investment to make them a reality.
The Solent LEP Transport Investment Plan can be viewed at http://solentlep.org.uk/uploads/documents/TIP_Final_-_Web_Version.pdf