The Department of Transport has recently announced a further extension of the deadline for a decision regarding the dualling of the A1 between Morpeth and Ellingham. This means that the deadline for a decision is now 5 June 2024. Plans for this section of the A1 were first raised 15 years ago with the aims of making the road safer whilst boosting the local economy, but the decision on whether and when the work will start has since been delayed three times – most recently to allow time to consider ‘any matters relevant’ to the application.
Glen Sanderson, Leader of Northumberland County Council said that he was ‘obviously disappointed‘ and that he would ‘make sure that the voices of the people that are disappointed in Northumberland today are clearly transmitted to the Secretary of State‘.