A1 Northumberland dualling: Anne-Marie Trevelyan meets Transport Secretary on budget day to make the case for scheme

Anne-Marie Trevelyan made the case for the scheme to dual sections of single carriageway between Morpeth and Ellingham to be approved in person to Mark Harper.

There was disappointment last September when the deadline for Development Consent Order (DCO) decision was pushed back to June 2024.

The Conservative Party Conference the following month was more encouraging as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak he would use money saved from scrapping the northern leg of HS2 to fund road upgrades across the country, including the Morpeth to Ellingham A1 scheme.

Calls were made after this announcement to bring forward the planning approval, but the Department for Transport said at the time that the revised DCO timetable was still in place.

Ms Trevelyan said: “On the day the Chancellor set out our Plan for Long Term Growth, with a further 2% cut to National Insurance and a freeze to fuel duty for the 14th year, it was the perfect time to sit down with Transport Secretary Mark Harper MP to keep up the pressure to dual the A1 in North Northumberland.

“It was fantastically encouraging to hear from him that the Government remains rock solidly behind the project. He reiterated the Prime Minister’s commitment of funding last year as one of the schemes in the £36billion Network North, which the Treasury have assured me of too.

“With £67.7million of works undertaken already – on planning, design, land acquisition and construction – I’ll not stop as we lock in the final permissions to steamroll ahead.”