David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome, has secured a specific offer of support from the Under Secretary of State for Transport Claire Perry MP to help Somerset County Council (SCC) put together a bid for a new railway station in Somerset.
Following the announcement by SCC last week that a bid would not be put forward due to a lack of available funding, and David’s subsequent comments in Parliament, he met with Claire Perry MP in Parliament to ask for government support to assist SCC in putting together a bid.
During the South West Rail Services debate held in Parliament on 21st October 2015, David Warburton MP explained that the South West currently receives the second-lowest rail funding per head in the country; eight times less than London and half of that received by people of the north west. David asserted:
“We need that to change if the south-west is to begin to realise its potential..…this week Somerset County Council has announced its unwillingness to submit a bid for a new station, apparently owing to the cost of putting it together. I welcome any reassurance that local authorities and other interested parties such as local enterprise partnerships will be able to receive constructive support with the bidding process. To fall at that fence seems rather absurd.”
In her response, Claire Perry MP stated:
"I am happy to ask my officials to work with Somerset County Council on how to get a bid for a new station together. That is absolutely imperative, and we know that it has been done very successfully by Taunton, just down the road. The money for that project came out of a growth fund deal, but it is possible to bid for a new station and doing so would be valuable. I would be happy to see how we might be able to help."
Following the debate, David met with Claire Perry MP to establish how practically to proceed with seeking this help. She agreed to a meeting in the House of Commons with herself, Ministry of Transport officials and the Leader of Somerset County Council (SCC) Cllr John Osman together with Cllr David Fothergill, SCC Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport.
David will chair the meeting with the intention of finding a way forward in order to support SCC in building a bid for the a new station.
David commented, “It would be crazy if – after all the work we’ve all done to get this far, having secured the promise of a New Stations Fund, plus the support of the Transport Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer – the proposal for new rail connections in Somerset fails just because putting the bid together costs too much. I’m sure that, with the help of officials and Minsters in Parliament, we can find the support we need so that local people get the infrastructure they need.”