Three cheers for the council

Nov 1 2002 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

The decision by Tynedale Council to take action on the need for dualling the A69 is excellent news. We have been waiting for decades for the Newcastle to Carlisle route to be upgraded, and prospects have looked increasingly bleak.

Tynedale's robust response to lack of interest from central government and regional development agencies will, I hope, focus attention on the need to keep transport and business flowing through Northumberland to Cumbria on the A69.

The new regional economic strategy for the North-East identifies the A66 as the key east-west link and has dropped references to the A69. Fifty miles of the A66, between Scotch Corner and Cumbria, will be dualled at a cost of £141m.

This decision was taken because the strategy says it will offer substantial economic benefits to the region.

No doubt it will. However, the A69, a busy link road between cities, has a tapestry of towns along its route that also depend on good access to keep them alive. The potential to increase investment in west Northumberland relies on offering dramatic improvements to the A69 past Hexham.

Haltwhistle, the geographical centre of Britain, is one of the local towns losing industries far too quickly. In the past year Blenkinsopp Colliery, Akzo Nobel paint factory and Barwicks Brothers building firm have all closed.

When companies leave, residents often follow. Dualling the road would make it easier for people to live in places like Haltwhistle and commute to Newcastle or Carlisle, and help to attract more business to the town.

The phenomenal increase in usage of Newcastle Airport and its continued growth points to the A69 being an important route for commuters and visitors.

The slow progress of transport funds for our region has not been helped by a recent public row between the North-East Assembly and regional CBI about the blueprint for a 21st Century road and rail system.

The assembly plans were derided as "timid, bland and humdrum" by the business group. Yet no alternative proposals were suggested.

If regional bodies do not work together, we are unlikely to get the results we need so urgently.

Tynedale's go-it-alone action in conducting a study into the A69 to convince the government that dualling and a bypass are needed seems a sensible course of action given decades of inaction from London and public sniping within the region.

* Nicholas Craig is a partner at Watson Burton law firm in Newcastle.