Transport schemes 'may be cut 50%'
Officials in the South West are planning for a reduction of up to 50 per cent in the funding the region receives from the Department for Transport (DfT) for major infrastructure projects.
A five-year, £572 million investment programme has already been re-jigged to reflect the squeeze in public spending expected after the General Election.
The WMN understands funding for the long-awaited South Devon link road and controversial Penzance Harbour development is seriously under threat unless both are approved by the DfT this side of the election.
The spending squeeze could also have implications for improvements to the A303-A358 corridor in Somerset that is a key route to London, completing the dualling of the A30 in Cornwall and the regeneration of Camborne, Pool and Redruth.
But a report prepared by officers from South West Councils, the successor to the regional assembly, says there is no indication that the projects in limbo will be signed-off before the poll, expected to be May 6, or the pre-election purdah period.
The report also warns the region could be the victim of a "double hit" because national projects, such as widening the M25, will get priority whoever is running the country.
Chris Irwin, chairman of TravelWatch South West, the pressure group with a seat on the region's transport board, said: "The prospects for the South West are very bleak.
"If something is not approved by the time the election is called, it is something we will be waiting for for a very long time."
Nigel Hutchings, chief executive of the South West Chambers of Commerce, which is also on the board, said while it was "dangerous" to start identifying projects to be axed, people are "right to be wary".
He said: "I think it is all going to depend on which colour government is elected in."
Last week, the Commons committee for the region reported that there was "an acceptance" that transport funds would be limited "for the foreseeable future".
Reports prepared by South West Councils officers are the clearest indication yet that the pot of cash handed down to the region between now and 2014 will be significantly reduced.
Minutes from the last meeting of the transport board meeting earlier this month spelled out the context: "With the General Election and widespread discussion around public sector funding cuts, it would be to the region's advantage to consider future scenarios and be ready to respond flexibly and quickly to any changes to future policy and funding."
Against a backdrop of a monstrous national debt, transport is likely to be considered a more favourable area to instigate cuts than health and education despite its importance to the economic health of remote communities.
Last week Chancellor Alistair Darling underlined the point in an interview with the WMN.
He said: "I know from my time (as Transport Secretary) what happens if you don't invest in the transport system for 10 years. Sooner or later it falls apart."
In March last year, the transport board of the then South West Regional Assembly, made up of councillors and industry "stakeholders" from the seven county-wide region, prepared a list of regionally important schemes most deserving of DfT cash.
The list included infrastructure that already had full Whitehall approval, such as the A354 Weymouth relief road, and schemes yet to get the final ministerial nod.
Those awaiting full approval include the South Devon link road, which has been decades in the making and could cut journey times by creating a bypass at Kingskerswell.
Earmarked for £83 million of DfT funding in the 2009-2014 round, it is the biggest single scheme on the list.
Sign-off on improvements to transform the passenger and cargo ferry service between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which is seeking £36 million from central government, has also reached an impasse because of wrangling over a tiny patch of beach and a listed pier in Penzance.
Improving access to Exeter at the A30, a basket of measures for the regeneration of Camborne, Pool and Redruth and the Taunton "third way" are also short of full approval.
South West Councils, which assumed the assembly's transport responsibilities, says the DfT recommended it "refresh" its spending priorities between 2009 and 2014 under the so-called Regional Funding Allocation.
Schemes which already have DfT approval have been brought forward to benefit from money already available in the current financial year.
Also at the DfT's suggestion, officers have also now compiled possible scenarios if funding was reduced, ranging from a "modest" 10 per cent to a 50 per cent. The latter would result in a £181 million deficit. Sources have said that long delays to projects are the most likely outcome. A project planned for five years could take 10, for instance.
