Don’t cry for me, EERA
Tuesday, July 24th, 2007
When this Government tends to abolish things, many of us are justifiably concerned and speak out publicly over the loss of many of our freedoms – for examples, the right to be tried by a jury, the right to protest, the right to be brought before a court if you are charged with a criminal offence.
However, on this occasion, I welcome the Government’s plans in principle to abolish the East of England Regional Assembly, unaffectionately known as EERA. This bureaucracy has made no actual difference to the day-to-day lives of people living in Suffolk and was simply yet another tier of government. We already have parish councils, town councils, district councils, county councils, and then to have EERA placed on top of all this has been a disaster.
My constituents and I have particular reason to be pleased at this news because EERA, for all its bureaucratic wrangling, did have powers relating to overseeing planning, investment and transport in the region. It was under this remit that I personally experienced one of the worst decisions made during my time as a Member of Parliament. The A11 which runs through my constituency has been classified as one of the most dangerous roads in the country, responsible for countless serious injuries and fatalities. One of the reasons is that it is currently only a single carriageway during one section of the road and I have been campaigning for the past decade to secure the Government funding to dual the road. Shockingly, at the end of 2005, EERA made a recommendation to the Government to push this scheme back by at least five years, without once informing me as the MP that this was their intention. I learned about it six months later when it was publicly announced by the Roads Minister. I was appalled that a project which was of vital importance to the safety of my constituents was simply sidelined without any consultation with directly elected representatives.
Many of the powers of EERA will be passed to the East of England Regional Development Agency and their Chairman, Richard Ellis has now stated that key schemes such as the A11 “will be an even higher priority”. This is welcome news for all those who use the road and I now welcome working together with all interested parties to make this a reality.