Some progress in the South West despite disappointing Budget

The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) has called on government to elevate the status of key infrastructure projects in the South West to boost economic development.

Alan Taylor, Executive Director of CECA for the south west, says that while the £3bn extra capital investment announced in the Budget was to be welcomed, the delay until 2015 was a missed opportunity to help boost the regional economy.

“A ‘jam tomorrow’ approach does little to address the urgent need to harness the power of infrastructure investment to deliver real and sustainable economic benefits,” says Mr Taylor. “We only need to look at the contracts and jobs potential linked to Hinkley Point C to appreciate that infrastructure projects have the ability to deliver a three-fold return at least on investment.”

The government has now published its Infrastructure Delivery Update for 2013, which highlights progress on the top 40 priority UK infrastructure programmes - five of which are located in the South West:

• The A380 South Devon Link Road (Kingskerswell Bypass) between Newton Abbott and Torbay is now under construction and is expected to lead to the creation of 8,000 jobs in South Devon and a further 3,600 in Torbay.
• The dualling of the A30 between Temple and Higher Carblake has been given the go ahead and will free up a major bottleneck for tourists during the summer months. It is hoped that work will start in 2014 or 2015.
• Planning permission for the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C has just been given and will provide a welcome boost to job opportunities in the South West; at its peak, some 5,600 operatives will be required by the plant, which in time will supply enough low carbon electricity to power around five million homes. Discussions between the Government and EDF in relation to guarantees now need to be concluded to allow the project to proceed.
• The newly erected Rail Maintenance Depot at Filton Triangle, Stoke Gifford, Bristol has just been handed over to Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd. This project also included improvements to the existing access road, internal access roads and car parking facilities.
• The £3m scheme to improve the tidal flood defences in Truro has now been completed and protects more than 200 homes at Lighterage Quay.

“Many of these projects have true regional benefit - but we need more to be done to help unlock the economic potential of the area.”

In particular, CECA hopes the engagement of Local Enterprise Partnerships in infrastructure projects will bring more local projects into fruition.

Among those recommendations for the South West at the top of the CECA agenda are:

• To upgrade the A303/A358 to a dual carriageway – one of the main routes from London to Cornwall.
• Completion of the Bristol ring road to increase traffic flow in the area.
• Faster rail connections to the south west by dualling or constructing a passing loop to the Exeter – Waterloo route as an alternative to the Paddington route.
• Improved flood schemes for Exeter.
• Maintained focus on policies to ensure the first new nuclear power stations in England and Wales begin generating electricity from 2020.

“We also hope that LEPs will work with us to examine how early engagement with the industry can optimise the available budget.”