Cllr Richard Wenham, Chair of England’s Economic Heartland, said:
"EEH’s Spending Review submission, informed by the region’s transport strategy, set out the investment required to support sustainable economic growth and a decarbonised transport system. Our ask included the need to continue to maintain delivery of East West Rail in its entirety to Cambridge and Aylesbury by 2030. As a net contributor to the Exchequer, investment in the region’s infrastructure and delivering the ambitions of our transport strategy, will bring significant benefits to the UK.
Our submission also set out the need for revenue funding to enable our partners to accelerate and develop current and future schemes required in the region, alongside core sub-national transport body funding. We will now work with the Department for Transport to fully understand the implications of the Spending Review for EEH and the region.
The Heartland includes the entirety of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc which is identified by government as a national economic priority – but to enable our immense potential to be realised, we do need to start seeing words backed up by firm commitments. As we state in our transport strategy, East West Rail must be considered just the start of what is required to enable the major levels of housing and economic growth already planned for the Heartland as we work towards net zero emissions.
The return on government’s investment will be significant, allowing the region to compete for a global Britain and providing the tax receipts required for the government’s ambitious levelling-up agenda."