MP will lobby the government for cash to improve area's transport

The Solent Local Enterprise Partnership published its Strategic Transport Investment Plan last month, setting out ambitious plans to improve local transport links in south Hampshire.

These include better rail links between Southampton and Portsmouth, upgrades to congested junctions on the M27 and a new bus rapid transport network.

Miss Fernandes met Gary Jeffries, chairman of the Solent LEP, to discuss the plan, and efforts to secure funding from the government’s latest round of growth deals.

She said that it was ‘clear we need better and more convenient transport links in the Solent region’ such as to London and to Southampton Airport.

She said: ‘I congratulate Gary and his colleagues on the work they’ve done so far on putting together this bid for funding, but there is still more to do. The plan contains some genuinely imaginative proposals, and I’ll be doing all I can along to lobby government for the investment to make it a reality.’