NECC urges Chancellor to prioritise upgrade of A1

North East businesses are urging George Osborne to prioritise upgrading the AI in Northumberland in this month’s spending review.

The NECC has made dualling the AI through Northumberland one of the key lobbying positions in its submission to the Chancellor.

The organisation ranks it as the region’s most important road network project, alongside speeding up already approved proposals for upgrades to the A1 and A19.

Chairman of NECC’s Northumberland Committee, Dave Douglas, who is also Operations and HR Director at Alnwick-based Hardy and Greys, said: “The dualling of the A1 through Northumberland would provide an enormous boost for the county, the regional economy and North East business generally.

“The economic case has been made for dualling this important arterial route, which would greatly ease connectivity between the North East and Scotland, opening up potentially lucrative new markets on our own doorstep.

“While we appreciate this would be a lengthy project, NECC members believe that the preparatory work should begin as soon as possible to enable a swift start to work when full project approval is secured.”

The NECC has also called on the Government to back regional business in the June 26 spending review with investment to boost GVA and increase North East contributions to UK PLC.

Weak growth over the last three years has led them to caution against cuts to areas with the potential to provide economic stimulus, and instead prioritise funding towards areas with the potential to unlock economic growth.

With the UK Government currently spending a disproportionate amount in the North East on social protection, partly due to historic economic underperformance, the NECC believes backing the region’s private sector is critical to reduce this.

Jonathan Walker, NECC’s Head of Member Relations said: “The North East’s capacity for development should be a big competitive advantage for the region.

“Dualling the A1 in Northumberland will be welcomed by the existing business community and also help attract new business to the region and particularly Northumberland.

“More must be done to help North East businesses deliver sustainable economic growth, increase wealth and more jobs and improvements to infrastructure are key to that.

“We have been saying for the last two years that the North East is an untapped resource bursting with potential.

“Our export performance outstrips the rest of the country, unemployment is falling faster than the rest of the UK, our manufacturing is in rude health and our service sector is growing faster than at any time since the recession began.

“What we require are the tools to do a proper job.

“To fulfil our undoubted potential, improve on what we are good at and utilise our capacity and enviable resources.”