I’ve lived in North West Leicestershire all of my life. I love it here, it’s a great place to live and a great place to raise a family for lots of reasons.
North West Leicestershire has comparatively affordable housing, low unemployment, and comparatively higher wages. We have beautiful countryside, stunning villages and market towns. You could say North West Leicestershire has everything.
But there is one thing that we haven’t got. A train line.
If you’ve lived in North West Leicestershire as long as I have then you will know why we haven’t got a train line. We used to have one from Burton to Leicester that used to stop at both Ashby and Coalville. Although it was closed as a passenger line in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, you will know that for the most part the line is still there and is used to transport stone from local quarries.
You will have definitely heard about the brilliant work of the Campaign to Reopen the Ivanhoe Line that has done so much to get the line reopened to passengers. Thanks to their hard work, and the investment of this Conservative government, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to seeing the Ivanhoe Line reopen. Wouldn’t it be great to once again see passengers travel to work in Burton or Derby, see supporters going to the football in Leicester, or see Christmas shoppers coming for the day out in Ashby – on the Ivanhoe Line.
Seeing the Ivanhoe Line reopen is a long-term project. Stations need to be built and track needs to be laid. It will stretch across a number of years and, possibly, a number of governments. But, it’s a project that will deliver tangible benefits to our children and grandchildren.
It’s a long-term project and one that needs to be done right. And it can only be done with teamwork.
It’s a project that needs to travel the whole way from Burton to Leicester – and that will mean expensive track works at the Leicester end. What use is being dropped off a mile outside of the city? It’s a project that needs stations where people live, otherwise it’s never going to offer the convenience and service that people need.
That’s why I’m delighted that a group of cross-party councillors are calling for a station to added in in Moira, a growing community that needs better connections. Whether that’s for better connectivity on longer journeys, children getting to school each day in Ashby, and the economic benefits of helping visitors to get here to the National Forest and Conkers.
The Ivanhoe Line will only be viable if it is used. It needs to become part of our daily lives across North West Leicestershire.
And that’s what I’m promising if I become your MP.
I want to be part of the team that delivers the Ivanhoe Line. I’m not going to promise that I can deliver anything on my own, because that’s not how the real-world works.
I want to work with the amazing volunteers at the Campaign to Reopen the Ivanhoe Line. I want to work with councillors of every political colour in our local government. I will work with a government of any party to help deliver for North West Leicestershire.
I spent a decade in the RAF learning that you can only get things done as part of a team.
If you put one of your own in Westminster, someone who lives in your community, you will put someone who understands that working together Team North West Leicestershire can deliver.
