Lancashire needs 'unique and innovative' transport plan to catch the government's eye, say business chiefs

That is the message from business leaders as the county’s politicians work to draw up a local transport plan.

The document will set out priorities for travel-related schemes that would improve Lancashire’s connectivity. It is being produced by the Lancashire Combined County Authority (LCCA), the body that came into being earlier this year to deliver the area’s devolution deal.

As part of that agreement, the LCCA will next year take on the local public transport powers currently held by Lancashire County Council and Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen councils – and is also now responsible for putting forward a blueprint for transport investment on behalf of all three of them.

However, at a meeting of the organisation last week, senior council figures were warned not to play it safe in stating their ambitions.

A report from the Lancashire Business Board (LBB), presented to the gathering, recognised “the need for a traditional response”. However, that group – made up of 17 members of the business community and private sector in Lancashire – also said it felt “more reference ought to be made to newer and more innovative methods of transport and mobility”.

Having received an update on the transport plan’s production, the LBB said there was a need for the proposal to be “ambitious and to paint Lancashire’s priorities in a unique way to set it apart from other areas nationally”.

The board also asked for “a wider range of consultees” to be involved in the process of developing the document.

Government funding for transport projects is increasingly being funneled towards areas with a mayor. Just this month, Lancashire was left empty-handed when ministers dished out £15.6bn for transport initiatives to mayor-led combined authorities – including the county’s neighbours in Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region.

Dates for delivery of both a draft of the Lancashire local transport plan and its final version are yet to be confirmed as part of the LCCA’s work schedule.

LCCA member – and leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council – Phil Riley told the meeting that “a certain stage” had been reached prior to last month’s local elections – and now the group working on it was “very keen to get going again”.

The combined county authority’s chair, Stephen Atkinson, said his Reform UK group – which now controls Lancashire County Council – would “very quickly” nominate the relevant representatives needed in order to enable that to happen.