NORTH EAST 'STAGGERED' AT BACKING FOR £9 BILLION THAMES CROSSING AS TYNE BRIDGE CASH WAIT GOES ON

News that a multi-billion pound road is set to be built under the River Thames has left leading figures in the North East “staggered”.

The Government granted planning permission on Tuesday for the Lower Thames Crossing to go ahead, a 14-mile A road that will link Kent to Essex and is expected to cost around £9 billion. A reported £800 million of taxpayer money has already been spent on planning the project, which includes two underground tunnels and is described by National Highways as “the most significant road project in a generation”, though the Government is now said to be “exploring private finance options” to fund the building of the scheme and sources expect a toll system to be imposed on the route to help pay back the upfront costs.

Regardless of how it is paid for, the announcement of a major transport project in the South East of England getting the green light from ministers has proved painful for some observers in our region. It comes as the North East continues to plead with Labour to hand over a final £6 million which was promised for the restoration of the Tyne Bridge and just a few months on from Chancellor Rachel Reeves scrapping the long-awaited dualling of the A1 in Northumberland, which was deemed “unfunded and unaffordable”.

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Council bosses in County Durham were also left furious by a £50 million cut to their transport funding last month, while the Government has also so far refused to commit cash towards the demolition of the closed Gateshead Flyover. The Bishop of Newcastle, the Right Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, said she was “staggered” to read about the Thames project’s approval.

She added: “Meanwhile in the North East we are waiting for the much smaller sum of £6 million to ensure the future of the Tyne Bridge, a vital part of the challenged traffic infrastructure in our region. The contrasts couldn’t be starker. It hardly needs pointing out. I hope to see another announcement soon that indicates the Government are serious about economic growth in the North East too, securing the future of such an iconic and vital bridge link for our region.”

Tuesday also saw the announcement of an operator for a new East West Rail link, a scheme the Department for Transport says will generate £6.7 billion of growth per year between Oxford and Cambridge by 2050. Leaders in the North East are hoping that ministers can be convinced to back huge infrastructure upgrades here, like the reopening of the disused Leamside railway line.

Richard Wearmouth, deputy leader of Northumberland County Council, said that projects like the recently-launched Northumberland Line train service had delivered “amazing” uptake from the public to justify the investment. He added: “We only wish we could have continued with the dualling of the A1 and that we could have guarantees around the improvements to the A19 roundabouts at Moor Farm and Seaton Burn.

“Funding for projects like the restoration of the Tyne Bridge should absolutely be backed, with no question. That we have to go pleading with the begging bowl and wait for feedback after so many months of this Government being in position shows where the priorities are, unfortunately. We will never stop banging the drum for Northumberland and the wider North East, but at the moment it feels like it is falling on deaf ears.”

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he expected a toll system like the Tyne Tunnel’s to be used to pay back the cost of the Lower Thames Crossing and that it would be done “off the government balance sheet”. He added: “The Metro Mayor of the North East Kim McGuinness has an ambitious and credible plan for transport in the region. We fully endorse what she is seeking to achieve, and key projects like extending the Metro with the Washington loop and the wider Leamside Line, have benefits to the North of England and Scotland in particular as well as to people here by allowing more direct services to Manchester and Liverpool. Even though private funding may play its part, and private finance may be an option, these priorities are not competing with the decision today if the Lower Thames funding package is done as is expected – off the government balance sheet.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said on Tuesday that the Government was "absolutely taking an approach to invest across the country, in every region". Matt Palmer, National Highways Executive Director Lower Thames Crossing, added: “The Lower Thames Crossing is one of the UK’s most important infrastructure projects. It will unlock growth with quicker, safer, and more reliable journeys and redraw the blueprint for building major projects in a net zero future by scaling up the use low-carbon construction, and leaving a legacy of green spaces, green skills.”

2025-03-26T14:32:12Z