A1 dualling hit by lack of government 'enthusiasm'

A lack of "enthusiasm" from government officials for plans to dual a stretch of the A1 saw the project "frustrated", it has been claimed.

The scheme to upgrade a 13-mile (20km) section of road between Morpeth and Ellingham was cancelled by the Labour government last year due to projections which suggested it would cost more than £500m.

At an event ahead of local elections on 1 May, Councillor Richard Wearmouth, deputy leader of Northumberland's Conservatives, said his own party had also acted too slowly before being replaced in government.

Councillor Scott Dickinson MBE, leader of the county's Labour group, said investment criteria was "very skewed to the south" of the country.

The Conservative administration gave the green light to the A1 project in May last year having previously postponed it three times.

However, it was then branded "unfunded and unaffordable" after Labour came to power in July.

Wearmouth, who represents Morpeth Kirkhill and is bidding for re-election, told the hustings he was "disappointed".

He said: "I have to say, I didn't find an awful lot of enthusiasm from some of the civil servants.

"I think they frustrated that project along the route. It should have been much faster than it was.

"It wasn't down to political will. Everyone, across the political spectrum, was always asking about it. This is something Labour MPs need to watch out for.

"The Labour Party minister described it as poor value for money and that is something that we see time and time again in the North East."

Referring to guidance from the Treasury on appraising politics, programmes and projects in terms of their financial impact known as the Green Book test, Wearmouth added: "We need to lobby to change that."

Labour's Dickinson, who represents Druridge Bay and is again standing as a candidate there, agreed.

"It is very skewed to the south with population and value-for-money arrangements which often brings lots of very beneficial infrastructure projects in the North out as being poor value for money when in fact they're not.

"What I would say is we are still committed to improving infrastructure in the North."

Natalie Younes, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Morpeth North ward, also said she was disappointed the A1 project had "stalled".

However, she explained her party would focus on "smaller-scale projects that can have a big impact - for example, improving the safety of travel east to west by improving junctions and crossings, and tackling the choke points in Berwick, Alnwick and Morpeth".

Haltwhistle's Reform candidate, Adam Howells, said his party would look to cut unnecessary spending if it took power.

He said: "I think in general, one of the things we're looking at is going into the county council and looking at where spending is not required and where we're wasting council money."

The Green Party was invited to the hustings but was unable to attend, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It has been approached for comment.