The M55 link road has been named as one of the ‘shovel-ready’ projects to get a share of a £900 million investment to build homes, infrastructure and create jobs.
Fylde MP Mark Menzies welcomed the announcement of £5.79 million for the road, replacing recently lost funding, after he lobbied the Prime Minister and senior ministers for the money from the Government’s Getting Building Fund.
The £900 million fund, which was announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in June as part of the Conservative Government’s New Deal for Britain – an ambitious economic strategy to rebuild Britain after coronavirus, by putting skills and infrastructure investment at the heart of our economic recovery.
Mr Menzies said: “I’m delighted the Government has agreed to fund £5.79 million for the M55 link road scheme. This replaces funds which were in place, but unfortunately fell away earlier this year as negotiations on the complex legal agreements continued.
“I requested these funds from Government after lobbying the Prime Minister twice including at Prime Minister’s Questions, and held further meetings with senior cabinet ministers to make the case for the project.
“We now have a fully-funded scheme once again and I expect the legalities to be completed quickly so that we can get shovels in the ground.
“It is more important than ever, as we begin the recovery from coronavirus, that we do everything we can to kickstart the economy, and getting this road built will be a huge boost for Fylde.”
More than 300 projects, which have been determined as ‘shovel-ready, have been allocated a share of the fund. In total, the investment is expected to deliver up to 45,000 homes, create up to 85,000 jobs and reduce around 65 million kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions across England.
It builds on the commitments made by Boris Johnson and the Conservatives during last year’s General Election to level up the whole country, investing in infrastructure and communities across the whole country. The Prime Minister’s New Deal accelerated more than £5 billion of investment on infrastructure projects, including the Getting Building Fund, while the Chancellor has also recently set out a Plan for Jobs, to support people in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “As we get Britain building we are also laying the foundations for a green economic recovery by investing in vital infrastructure for local communities, creating jobs and building environmentally-friendly homes with a huge £1.3 billion investment announced today.
“This Government is determined to level up all parts of the country and this funding will not only give a much-needed boost to our economic recovery, it will help build the good quality, affordable homes the country needs.”