Monday, 15 March 2010 15:07

The Leaders of West Sussex and Surrey County Councils have joined forces to demand the government prioritise investment in the South East’s roads, saying it could boost the entire UK economy by £1.6 billion a year.

They backed calls by the Local Government Association (LGA) for an immediate investment of £100 million to repair Britain's potholes, but argued serious, long term investment is needed to create a world class road network in the region.

Henry Smith and Dr Andrew Povey claim if there had been serious sustained investment in the South East's roads over the past 15 years, businesses would have grown further, creating more wealth which in turn could now be earning the government an extra £750 million in tax a year to spend throughout Britain.

West Sussex Leader, Henry Smith, said: “The whole country is missing out because of a Government lack of investment in transport infrastructure in the South East. If the Government had made sure investment was in line with the average nationally the country as a whole could now be benefiting from a much needed multi-million-pound boost.”

Surrey Leader Dr Andrew Povey said: “The South East is the economic powerhouse of the UK economy and contributes not only massive sums to our national Gross Domestic Product, but also generates the highest tax revenues for the exchequer. The government chooses to send too much funding to economically weak parts of the country where it will be ineffective. This is often as good as burning public money.”

Henry and Dr Povey both support the LGA’s call for £100 million of emergency funding to repair roads, but argue this is only needed because of the chronic lack of serious investment in the road network.

Henry added: “Perhaps if the South East had received the investment it needed the roads might not be suffering so much now after the recent severe weather.

“We must take action now to repair the damage but we should be looking to the future to make sure the area receives the funding it deserves so that business can be allowed to grow without the inconvenience of congestion and overcrowding.”

The two Leaders have started a petition calling on the Government to provide serious long-term investment in the South East’s roads. To sign the petition, visit Number10.gov.uk