Government snubs Hull bid for transport funds
CITY WON’T GET A SHARE OF £840M INVESTMENT POT
A BID for a share of £840m to upgrade transport links in Hull and surrounding areas has been rejected by the Government.
Instead, cities including Leeds and Sheffield will get a slice of the cash to improve key public transport routes and encourage more people to switch to bus, rail and cycling as an alternative to the car.
The bid was submitted earlier this year by Hull City Council on behalf of the region’s four local authorities.
It was aimed at securing financial support from the Government’s new Transforming Cities Fund (TCF), which was originally announced in last year’s Autumn budget.
Potential routes identified in the first-phase bid included the A1079 between Hull and Beverley, the A1033 between Stoneferry Road and Mount Pleasant and roads around the Bridgehead business park near the Humber Bridge.
It suggested radical re-design options could be considered for Spring Bank West, Anlaby Road and Boothferry Road, taking advantage of the existing space provided by wide central reservations and verges.
An option to relocate Brough railway station to a new location with more direct pedestrian and cycle links and improved vehicular access was also highlighted.
But the Hull-led bid has failed to make a list of ten city-regions selected to submit final bids to the £840m funding pot.
Successful areas include Derby and Nottingham, Leicester, the North East, Norwich, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Sheffield, Stoke and West Yorkshire.
They will now be invited to draw up detailed plans to spend money on new transport projects over a four-year period.
Hull Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Mike Ross claimed some of the council’s current £23m budget for new highways schemes had been based on securing TCF cash.
He said: “Before the local elections in May, Labour bosses in Hull promised residents the earth when it came to road repairs and improvements, but that money didn’t exist.
“Worse still, it isn’t going to as their hoped-for pot of money isn’t coming Hull’s way.”
However, in a statement, the council said the £23m highways budget was already fully-funded.
“Hull City Council’s £23m budget for major highways projects has been secured, without the need for funding from the Transforming Cities Fund.
“As a result, work to further improve the city’s key public transport routes, carry out maintenance works, relieve congestion and enhance traffic flow is already under way.
“We were unsuccessful this time in our bid to the Transforming Cities Fund, but we have a strong track record for bringing in external funding in a highly competitive environment and will continue to put in bids to deliver an enhanced programme.”
The outcome is not only a blow for Hull, but also a setback to the Humber area’s attempts to align itself with the Government’s increasing moves to channel funding to city-regions made up of several neighbouring councils as well as combined authorities led by directly-elected mayors.
England’s six mayoral combined authorities have already received a share of £840m from the TCF.
In Greater Manchester, £160m has already been set aside for what will be the UK’S largest cycle network of its kind covering ten different boroughs.