A campaigner fighting for safety improvements on the A1 in Northumberland has welcomed the Prime Minister's latest remarks but warned action is needed soon. Kezz Petronelli-Stone is a founding member of the Northumberland A1 Safety Alliance (NASA) alongside local businessman Richard Shell.
The alliance has a number of high-profile supporters including former Newcastle United owner Sir John Hall and patron the Duchess of Northumberland. Petronelli-Stone was speaking after Andy Burnham said there was the potential to explore an alternative way to put together the necessary funding during a visit to Newcastle.
Campaigners demand immediate action
Petronelli-Stone, who owns Northumbria Forestry, said: "It's encouraging to hear this from Mr Burnham, but at some point it has to be more. People aren't going to want to wait a year - they want something immediately. It's great they're saying they will find the money, but when? I have nothing but faith, but he has to be talking to our MPs and they have to be talking to their constituents. People want the A1 to be dualled. Let's get it done."
Campaigners have been calling for the A1 to be dualled for decades. Pressure has ramped up on the Government this year following a number of serious collisions that have seen six people killed, leading ChronicleLive to launch its Dual the A1 and Save Lives campaign calling for the dualling case to be re-examined.
Serious incidents spark formation of NASA
Other serious incidents include an accident involving Emma Bartle Scott and her husband at the turn-off for Charlton Hall, which was one of the key sparks behind the formation of NASA. Charlton Hall is owned by co-founder Richard Shell.
Petronelli-Stone has previous in political campaigning, having co-ordinated large-scale tractor rallies in Morpeth, Newcastle and London via the regional group Farmers Unite to oppose Government changes to agricultural inheritance tax - changes that were later reversed. He and Shell started NASA after "having witnessed daily how the dangerous, single-lane stretches of the northern A1 put lives and local commerce at risk" to "demand change".
NASA has amassed almost 4,000 followers on Facebook alone. A parliamentary petition started by the group and signed by key figures including North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson has now amassed over 4,200 signatures. The petition can be signed on the parliamentary petitions website by searching "The North Of England A1 Safety Guarantee: Action Immediate Protection".
Economic impact and need for upgrades
Petronelli-Stone continued: "The A1 is the backbone of this country. It is important that this is recognised as a national issue. The county council are pushing to be a tourist hotspot. There aren't many growth industries left here, and tourism is one of the few still growing. When you look at the data, nearly all of the accidents aren't involving locals. We're asking people to come up here and spend their hard-gotten money, and we can't even get them in and out of the county safely. We need to show how much money we're missing out on because we are being stopped bringing money into the county - that's how we're going to get this across the line."
Prior to Burnham's comments, the Government had said the scheme was "unaffordable". Costs of dualling 13 miles of the road between Morpeth and Ellingham alone were put at £500 million. National Highways has committed to carrying out safety improvements along the route as part of the Road Investment Strategy. However, no timescale for this work has yet been confirmed, while the number of accidents this year continues to rise.
Petronelli-Stone said work on that aspect was needed as soon as possible. He added: "We need immediate upgrades on junctions - now. We have to have one voice and everybody pulling together - this is important for all of us. Highways have said they're going to make these improvements. It seems to be most of the junctions that are the real problem ones, which I think is very positive - but we need spades in the ground now. I know Government departments move slowly, but these things aren't difficult. I would like to see junction improvements immediately - but we all need to be kinder to each other. If you see something iffy, slow down. I have no political agenda. The public are trusting us because we have a track record, we have done it before and we're not trying to get people to vote for us, so we can lead this charge."
The ChronicleLive petition has also collected almost 4,000 signatures and can be found on the ChronicleLive website.
