Councils join forces in attempt to gain more transport cash for area

A NEW alliance is being created in the Westcountry to take on the Northern Powerhouse and grab a bigger share of government investment in transport.

The group will include Devon, Somerset and Cornwall county councils, along with local authorities at Torbay and Plymouth.

The elected mayor of Torbay agreed with a recommendation from the council’s ruling executive to join the new organisation, known as the South West Peninsula Sub-National Transport Body.

The bodies are being set up at the request of the Government with the aim of formulating and potentially delivering a transport strategy for the wider area.

But Torbay councillors were told Dor- set County Council had pulled out of the Peninsula group and decided to join the Western Gateway.

That body is made up of top-tier councils covering Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, Poole, Bournemouth, Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Wiltshire.

There were concerns that splitting the South West of England into two could weaken its influence.

But Independent councillor Robert Excell, executive lead for community services, told a meeting of Torbay’s policy development and decision group that the Westcountry split approach had been approved by the Government and councils needed to work together.

He said: “It will give us a bigger voice. We don’t want to be left out in the cold. We have got to get together with the big boys. Torbay can’t stand on its own.”

The region already has the Peninsula Rail Task Force, which has been lobbying for improvements especially after the line was washed away in 2014.

Torbay will have to pay £20,300 taken from planning reserves to join the ‘shadow’ group, which will be formally established once it gets government approval. The body would include organisations such as Network Rail, Highways England and Local Enterprise Partnerships.