21.03.19
Government promises to look ‘very carefully’ at £218m bid for second Chelmsford station
The government will look “very carefully” at a £218m funding bid for a new railway station in Chelmsford, Theresa May has said.
Essex County Council has bid for £218m from the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund to help develop a station and a bypass between Springfield and Great Leighs.
Speaking at PMQs this week, the MP for Chelmsford Vicky Ford confirmed that the authority was putting in bids for the government funding, including money for the long-awaited second railway station in Chelmsford at Beaulieu.
The funding bid for the railway station and a bypass in north east Chelmsford was one of three infrastructure projects in the county shortlisted by the government, totalling around £400m.
The county council is currently in the final stages of submission for its three bids, with the deadline of 22 March.
Ford asked the prime minister at PMQs: “Does my Rt Hon Friend agree that world class infrastructure is vital for our future and will she support our 25-year campaign for Chelmsford’s second railway station?”
Theresa May responded by welcoming the council’s bid, and said: “Of course the Department for Transport will look very carefully at the bid for the second railway station.”
The station will be part funded by Network Rail alongside the public funding, and last month the South East Local Enterprise Partnership agreed more than £12m towards the creation of a new station at Beaulieu.
The council said once the plans are officially submitted there will be a period of assessment by Homes England and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, before announcements on the winners are made later this year.
Image credit - Mike Smith