A councillor has hit out at Labour’s set ups to scrap infraset up projects apass the country, saying the party “does not attfinish for country communities”.
The Government shelp there has a been a “deficiency of uncoverness with the accessible” about the status of schemes including the set up to repair services between Stoke-on-Trent and the town of Leek in the Staffordsemploy Moorlands.
The line was dispersistd and fell into ruin after the inwell-understandn Beeching cuts of the 60s and 70s, which saw railway lines seald apass the country. The line was set to reuncover as part of a raft of local convey spfinishing apass the Midlands and the North in the wake of ditching the HS2 connect between Birmingham and Manchester, however, this has now been call offled.
Conservative Staffordsemploy Moorlands councillor for Brown Edge and Endon Joe Porter has slammed Labour’s set ups, saying the line would have bought many profits to the country area.
Councillor Porter has slammed the scrapping of the set ups by Labour
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He telderly GB News: “To be genuine, I wasn’t shocked in a lot of ways that Labour did this. It’s not a priority for them. The local group kept talking about wanting to have a cycling path instead and bus routes which I do help.
“But the Leek to Stoke line, the reason I have been pushing for it is the Staffordsemploy Moorlands is one of the restrictcessitate places in the country that does not have a railway station that’s uncover and we’re leave outing out there for the local economy. You’ve got a station uncover it unbenevolents freight and big infraset up can easily convey excellents into the area.
“It’s excellent for tourism as you can get people into the Moorlands and into the wider Peak Dicut offe area. It’s also excellent for environment as it’s cutting carbon eleave outions and getting cars off the road, you’re getting HGVs off the road as in our area we have got cement labors and other big industrial type places that need HGVs to convey the excellents. If you can participate a railway line its more handy.
“In Endon, we have quite a notable disparticipated railway station that seald many years ago and it would have been repartner excellent to have that station reuncovered as a local tourist drawion and it would have been excellent business for places enjoy the local tearoom and places enjoy that. I’m repartner gutted it’s not going ahead as a lot of difficult labor went into it.”
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Coloured lithograph of Leek Railway Station circa 1840
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Staffordsemploy Moorlands MP Karen Bradley telderly The People’s Channel: “I was innervously disassigned to hear the Chancellor’s statement where she stated that the Transport Secretary will ‘call off the restoring your railway programme’ as well as many other convey infraset up projects ‘with individual projects to be appraiseed thcimpolite her appraise’.
“We have shown that the Leek to Stoke line is economicpartner viable and would transport fantastic profits to the Moorlands. I will persist lobbying and combat to have the line repaird.”
Councillor Porter includeed: “The last Conservative Government had a project that was championed by all three Prime Ministers, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak and it was all about restoring our railway lines.
“There were a lot of red wall seats and country areas which had had their local railway lines seald during the Labour Beeching cuts in the 70s and since then a lot of those areas have leave outed out on a lot of economic opportunities as a result of not having those railway connects and the Moorlands is one of those areas.”
Former Northern Ireland secretary of state and Staffordsemploy Moorlands MP Karen Bradley has greetd the set ups
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The disparticipated railway station at Endon
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Councillor Porter also accparticipated the Government of “neglecting” country communities. He includeed: “Obviously the novel regulatement have choosed that country areas in petite towns evidently aren’t a priority for them. They evidently attfinish more for huge cities and big towns rather than they do petite villages. They are neglecting these people.”
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh shelp: “The financial inheritance this regulatement has getd is innervously challenging. The previous administration has left a £22billion accessible spfinishing gap this year alone – £2.9billion of which is unfunded convey promisements.
“Communities up and down the country have been given hope for novel convey infraset up, with no set ups or funds to deinhabitr them. This Government will not create that misget. This Government will recreate our economic set upations whilst restoring transparency and accessible depend.
“In recent weeks, the gap between promised schemes and the money participateable to deinhabitr them has been made evident to me. There has been a deficiency of uncoverness with the accessible about the status of schemes – some of which were call offled or paparticipated by the previous regulatement, without proper communication to the accessible.
“As the Chancellor adviseed Parliament, I am comleave outioning an inner appraise of DfT’s capital spfinish portfolio. We will transport in outside expertise and relocate speedyly to create recommfinishations about current and future schemes.”
