Last week, Edward Morello, MP for West Dorset gave a rousing speech at a Westminster Hall debate on local transport and planning developments.
He said that if we are going to build new homes they must come with appropriate transport infrastructure especially more buses. He reiterated a plea to build “the right Houses in the right places at the right place” and the need for more affordable homes and accessible homes which are not built on flood plains or blighting natural landscapes and with appropriate infrastructure including GP surgeries, schools, shops and, most importantly, transport infrastructure.
He was particularly critical of the decline in bus services in the county which have fallen by 62% since 2010 and have had left people disconnected and isolated. He also highlighted the unfair allocation of funds from central government which has seen three times as much going to Devon than Dorset.
Edward called on the government to ensure that new developments come with strong plans for public transport so that commuting its possible with a realistic alternative to driving cars; and for more government support since the burden of infrastructure cannot be shouldered purely by local people. He also asked specifically for more money for rural services to reverse the years of underfunding. Otherwise we “risk normalising failure”.