The former Greater Manchester mayor, now Prime Minister, chose Sheffield on Friday to announce his 'great power giveaway' – plans to allow regional mayors to keep more of the tax raised in their communities. He used the visit to also call for better transport links between Manchester and Sheffield, describing the current connections as 'ridiculous'.
Mr Burnham said road and rail links between the two cities were poor, according to Yorkshire Live. Little more than 30 miles separate Manchester from Sheffield as the crow flies, but the Peak District between them has long posed a major obstacle to infrastructure.
'It needs to be addressed'
“It needs to be addressed,” Mr Burnham said. “And I came from home in the North West this morning, so you don't need to persuade me. We feel it as much as you do on your side. It's something the country has failed to address over decades. Manchester and Sheffield have a lot of complementary industry. There's lots of ties between the two cities, and it's ridiculous actually that we have a couple of winding roads and a creaky rail service.”
“It's got to be better than that. If you're serious about growth, you've got to get the connectivity right between the big cities. And certainly it's at the top of my list of priorities that we need much better rail infrastructure as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail. But I also think we need a better road solution. It cannot be right that the Woodhead Pass, the Snake Pass, are managed just as local roads that are crumbling and not available for large parts of the year. We need to do better than that. So all of those issues are in scope. I'll work with the local authorities concerned, but Manchester Sheffield connectivity needs to be much better than it is.”
The scale of the challenge
Despite both city regions having a combined population of over three million people, driving can take well over 90 minutes to two hours and rail options remain heavily constrained. A combination of difficult geography, protected national park land and decades of under-investment are all factors behind the challenge.
Mayors welcome tax devolution
Labour mayors in the North of England welcomed the income tax announcement. South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard called it 'a huge step in the right direction' allowing leaders like him 'to take a long term view of investment and spending decisions'.
Henri Murison, of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said mayors would be able to borrow against or commit future revenues to help finance privately built and delivered infrastructure. He added: “There's a huge amount of opportunity that springs from today, where we're going to be able to think about these things and challenges differently.”
