The growing gap between South Lakeland and other parts of the region when it comes to major new-road building projects has prompted calls for more council and parliamentary action at a local level.
The last major bypass building scheme in South Lakeland, the High and Low Newton bypass, was approved in 2003. In the intervening 15-years, new-road building projects have been approved and delivered in Carlisle, Distington and Lancaster, and Cumbria County Council will soon publish its preferred route for a new Carlisle Southern Link Route.
Conservative councillors in South Lakeland have led calls for a new Kendal Northern Development Route to ease congestion and want South Lakeland’s councils and parliamentary representative to take a leaf out of their Conservative and Labour neighbours in Lancashire and other parts of Cumbria to secure approval for the new Kendal bypass.
Councillor Ben Berry, Conservative group leader on South Lakeland District Council, said: “Securing investment in key infrastructure projects is a vital ingredient to delivering good jobs and economic growth.
“This is particularly the case in South Lakeland where average wages are significantly lower than the national average.
“There is no getting away from the fact that resources for new road building projects are finite, but this has not prevented councils and parliamentary representatives in other parts of our region from forging alliances and securing new roads for their areas.
Councillor Berry continued: “These new road schemes were all approved and completed during periods in which the highest offices of state have been held by Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs.
“This fact simply draws into starker light the need for our local councils and parliamentary representative to take an honest look at their approach to-date.
“There are 649 other parliamentary constituencies in the UK whose MPs and local councils are all competing to show that their area should be at the top of the list for new infrastructure spending. After 15-years of no bypass building in South Lakeland, it’s time for our councils and parliamentary representative to roll their sleeves up.”
“We need better influence for better roads in South Lakeland.”