Braintree District Council urges the government to reconsider its decision to cancel the A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening scheme.
The announcement was made yesterday, Tuesday, 8 July 2025, by the Secretary of State for Transport.
Councillor Graham Butland, Leader of Braintree District Council, said: “We are hugely disappointed by the government’s decision to cancel the A12 widening scheme. It’s a project we’ve consistently championed as it’s essential to improving safety, reducing congestion, supporting housing and economic growth in the district and the wider north Essex area.
“Across Essex, councils and MPs have worked closely together to move this scheme through the design and planning stages. At the same time, councils invested millions into the A120 upgrade - a project the government later chose not to move forward with.
“Government have pledged for 1.5m new homes within the next five years and the decision is directly contrary to this ambition. We always hear from our residents not to build housing without the infrastructure, and we’ve always said that funding for infrastructure is key to our plans to creating homes.
“At every opportunity we’ve highlighted to Government the need for an infrastructure first approach to housing delivery and sustained growth, that should be supported with significant government investment.
“It’s a crucial project to facilitate the planned growth government have told us we need to plan for, with the new mandatory housing targets imposed on us by the Government which have increased by 56%. Without this essential road upgrade, it puts other key road improvements in doubt - improvements that were essential to unlock new housing and employment sites in our area, and it will limit our options on where we plan for future growth in the district as part of our updated Local Plan.
“We will be pushing back strongly to Government on this decision, working with partners to get answers and keep pushing for the investment that the Braintree district needs.”