Alongside regional political representatives including fellow Essex MPs, Sir John Whittingdale, MP for Maldon recently added his signature to a letter to the new Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh, urging her to progress with the A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme as a priority.
The letter has been sent from the leader’s office of Essex County Council on a cross-party
basis and comes ahead of a spending review the Department plans to undertake. The
review will determine if funding allocation continues for projects such as the A12 Widening
Scheme on the basis of their deliverability and likelihood of yielding significant economic
growth.
In that context, Sir John and his fellow signatories have emphasised the importance of the East of
England region to the UK’s wider economic prosperity and how the A12 serves to enhance
this. The letter highlights its position as the main route to London from Chelmsford, Colchester and
Ipswich, but also how the region acts as an intersection for numerous international
gateways.
However, the letter stresses that region’s economic potential is hobbled by
congestion hotspots and capacity constraints, hence the urgent need for the A12 scheme. Sir John is
hopeful that despite the change in Government this project will continue to go ahead.
Pictured below is the cross-party letter sent to the Secretary of State for Transport:
Below is a clip of Sir John putting the case to the Minister in the House of Commons Chamber