AS the saga of delays and massive cost overrun on the A13 widening rumble on, Thurrock Conservatives have voted against Labour calls to have the running of the project investigated by an independent team.
Labour’s Cllr Martin Kerin proposed an independent peer review into the controversial scheme, as last night’s Planning, Transport and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee heard the scheme was almost two and a half years behind schedule and more than £30 million over budget.
Cllr Kerin said:
“It is proving almost impossible to get straight answers to straight questions on just why the A13 widening project has gone so badly wrong. Local residents deserve to know how we have got to a position where the road is two and a half years late and tens of millions of pounds overspent – after all its those residents that will have to use it.
“I really thought that asking the Local Government Association to carry out a Peer Review of the whole project was a more than reasonable way to identify the causes of the delays and overspends and I am really disappointed that Thurrock Conservatives voted the idea down.
“We need detailed answers as to how this has happened, and a detailed plan to ensure that this can never happen again. We could have taken a huge step toward that last night but, instead, Thurrock Conservatives voted to hide from scrutiny.”
