The A47 Alliance Steering Group met for the first meeting of the year on 19 January 2024. The meeting was the A47 Alliance's first hybrid meeting with in-person attendees since 2020! It was great to see members of the A47 Alliance face to face for the first time in a few years and to have a great turnout of members joining online including local authority members and officers from across Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, business leaders, MPs and their officers.
National Highways gave a presentation on the RIS1 funded schemes which are currently under legal challenge with the Court of Appeal hearing on 16 January 2024. National Highways also provided an update on RIS3 which is likely to be published in 2024.
Officers from Norfolk County Council gave updates on recent work and set out ideas for campaigning activities in 2024 including collecting business testimonials and engaging MPs to make the case for A47 dualling in Westminster. George Freeman MP joined the call and showed support for this.
The A47 Alliance now looks to continue to campaign into 2024 for A47 dualling to be committed to by Government in RIS3. The campaign will involve us working together to raise the profile of the case for dualling and influence decision making in Westminster.