The Government’s investment plans, as outlined in the Autumn Budget 2024, have made clear that there is a critical need to invest in infrastructure to reshape our economy and fuel growth. This presents a distinct opportunity to take a fresh look at how targeted investment in our road infrastructure can make a substantial contribution to headline policy objectives – ‘supercharging’ economic growth and significantly raising housing delivery rates. Lichfields has provided extensive insight on how these must-have political objectives can be practically achieved, not least through essential and fundamental changes to England’s spatial and land-use planning system.
In the Chancellors Autumn Budget and earlier Government statements, promises were made to ‘rebuild Britain’ through the modernisation of our transport infrastructure, drawing attention to our road network as ‘plagued by long-promised projects that are never delivered’. Commitments made include:
- Maintaining and renewing the road network.
- Giving mayors the power to create unified and integrated transport systems.
- Developing a long-term strategy for infrastructure, through a ten-year plan.
- Supporting the transition to electric vehicles and other forms of ‘home grown power’, giving certainty to manufacturers by restoring the 2030 phase-out date for new internal combustion engines.
The new Government are taking this agenda seriously, already postponing and cancelling a selection of high-profile infrastructure schemes through the Spending Audit, including the cancellation of the A303 Stonehenge and A27 Arundel bypass projects. Making high-impact decisions from the outset demonstrates the Government’s intent to change priorities and drive efficiencies, redirecting resources to schemes that can be a catalyst of growth and offer greater value for money.
The announcement of planning reforms through an updated and reformed National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has underpinned the Government’s intentions to prioritise growth through cross boundary planning, devolution, and the introduction of landmark programmes such as New Towns and the implementation of the Grey Belt. National Highways can seize this opportunity to firmly establish themselves as an agent for growth cementing their core role in enabling growth across the country.
