Cabinet minister listens to Little Common traffic concerns

People are concerned traffic movements have increased since the opening of the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road. Residents are anticipating further increases in traffic movements from new housing in the area and the completion of the new North East Access Road.

On the day that the Government delivered its White Paper on Housing reform, local MP Huw Merriman met with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid, to lobby for a solution for Little Common residents.

This follows a commitment from Mr Merriman to 200 residents who attended a public meeting on the matter at the end of last year.

In Parliament, Mr Javid and Mr Merriman discussed the possibility of local authorities, Highways England and the Local Enterprise Partnership bidding for investment from a new £2.3b Housing Investment Fund which the Government has recently launched. The fund will distribute money for new projects, such as roads, which would unlock new space for housing development.

Mr Merriman has now written to local stakeholders to ask them to assess if a bid would be attractive in the event that there was local appetite to use new housing development as a means to complete a by-pass of Bexhill and Little Common.

Mr Merriman said: “We undoubtedly have a real need to help local people get on to, or up, the housing ladder as well as the challenge of delivering infrastructure to ease congestion and allow for more regeneration.

“If we could combine these projects via Government funding then it could be an exciting opportunity for the area. It may be that the required housing numbers, or the location would not make a bid worthwhile but it must at least be worthy of consideration.

“The Secretary of State has offered to meet with local partners to explain how this could work and I am ready to help make this happen.”

Local discussion of a by-pass for Bexhill has been heightened by the recent reconfirmation by Government that funds will be provided to deliver the North East Bexhill Access Road. This new road will join the Link Road to the Ninfield Road.

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