As spring approaches, I know that many of my constituents across Sherwood will join me in welcoming the lighter days and better weather, writes Sherwood MP Sir Mark Spencer.
After the devastating flooding our communities faced in the New Year, I’d say we are more than deserving of some sun!
The lighter days afford us all with more time to go about our daily business, including the dedicated transport workers at Nottinghamshire County Council who are as determined as I am to tackle the pothole crisis across Sherwood.
So, for this month’s As I See It, I would like to discuss the opportunity that spring offers when it comes to levelling up our roads and travel networks across Nottinghamshire.
As you can imagine, each day I receive a high volume of queries about potholes. This is a problem that I am keenly aware of and want to help the County Council tackle this springtime.
With that said, we are at a great advantage in our region after being awarded £4m by the government, on top of the £1.5bn Devolved Transport Fund.
I have personally met with the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council to press for more local investment so that members of our communities are able to drive without worry when on their way to work, dropping the kids off at school or travelling across regions.
I have been told that we will be seeing a significant increase in operational repairs of potholes now that the weather is turning milder, which will help with the settling of these repairs.
I wholly agree with many of you who have reached out to my office that we need more urgent repairs and will continue to advocate for individual concerns as the cases cross my desk.
However, it is not just our roads that will see improvement this spring, as plans on how to allocate the £1.75bn Midlands Rail Hub investment are set to be explored by the Department for Transport.
In lieu of the extension of HS2, this investment will seek to speed up journey times, increase service capacity and boost their frequency across the region.
I am hopeful that, during this transformative period for transport in Nottinghamshire, we may be able to secure funding to extend the Robin Hood Line, a project I have championed throughout my parliamentary career.
Once an East Midlands Mayor has been elected on May 2, I will seek a meeting with them to put forward my vision for its extension, which would provide further job opportunities across the region and, indeed, the country for many of my constituents.
And finally, for those of my constituents who rely on local buses, I am happy to say that £230m has been awarded by the government to increase the frequency of services across the region.
I will, of course, continue to advocate for multiple services across my constituency. As well as this fantastic investment, I am glad that the popular £2 bus fare will be extended through to December 2024.
This is an exciting time to live in Nottinghamshire, where levelling up our transport is firmly on the agenda.
I know that, if elected, Ben Bradley MP would do all he could to bolster these already transformative levels of investment to deliver real change in our region.
That is why, on the May 2, I will be voting Ben Bradley for East Midlands Mayor, to establish a devolved authority that works in the interest of communities across Nottinghamshire.
