FIONA Bruce MP spoke of ‘the wonderful town of Middlewich’ in the House of Commons when she made a speech asking the government for funding for the Middlewich Bypass.

The Congleton constituency MP spoke in the Commons on Thursday, March 24, Patrick McLoughlin, secretary of state for transport, and Greg Clark, secretary of state for communities and local government, and their ministers, to ‘do some joined up thinking’ and grant funding for the bypass.

Fiona said: “I want to speak in support of the wonderful town of Middlewich in my constituency, and to champion its irrefutable claim for government funding for a bypass—a bypass that has been 20 years in the waiting, and for which planning permission was first granted two decades ago.

“If traffic was pressured then, one hardly needs to imagine how much more pressured it is now. Travelling through Middlewich—not just at peak time—one can justifiably describe the congestion as chronic. It is the worst in my constituency by far.

“Over recent decades, Middlewich has simply not received the investment that it deserves from wider authorities to enable it to realise its substantial untapped potential.

“I ask ministers in the department for communities and local government and the department for transport to do some joined-up thinking and improve connectivity, not just for Middlewich but for the region, by funding the bypass.”

In response to Fiona’s speech, Thesese Coffey, deputy leader of the House of Commons, gave praise to the Congleton MP, and recommended a meeting with the department for transport’s minister of state, Robert Goodwill MP.

The deputy leader said: “The Member for Congleton, Fiona Bruce, was exceptionally eloquent in her proposals for an eastern bypass around Middlewich.

“It is good to hear that she is working with her council and the local enterprise partnership and she made a compelling case in her bid for the local major’s fund.

“She is due to meet the under-secretary of state for communities and local government, James Wharton, but I strongly recommend that she meets the minister of state, department for transport, Mr Goodwill. I hope that she succeeds in her compelling case, as I hope that I will succeed in the case that I will put forward for the Suffolk Energy Gateway bypass.”