Work on the Beccles southern relief road is expected to begin by the spring of 2016, after the Government this week approved £2 million of funding as part of its national growth deal.

New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) secured the funds after submitting a detailed bid which outlined the key priority projects.

The road will connect the A145 road to Ellough, providing faster access to Beccles Business Park and the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft (New Anglia) Enterprise Zone.

This will enable 20 new companies to move to the site with the creation of more than 1200 jobs and an expected boost worth millions of pounds to the local economy.

It also means less congestion for Beccles as traffic will no longer need to travel through the centre of town.

The new road will also link the A146 Norwich to Lowestoft road to the north of Beccles with the A145 and A12 Ipswich road at the southern end of the town.

Mark Pendlington, chairman of New Anglia LEP, said: “Better transport links are the key to unlocking growth and this project is a clear example of that.

“This road will provide greater access for businesses at the Ellough Airfield site, increasing the viability of the Enterprise Zone and in turn attract hundreds of new jobs and apprenticeships. It is a great vote of confidence from Government that this project has been awarded the funds that it rightly deserves and it is thanks to collaborative working between New Anglia, its local authority partners, MPs and business leaders.”

Mark Bee, leader of Suffolk County Council and county councillor for Beccles, said: “As both leader of the county council and local member for Beccles, I recognise the importance of finally building the Beccles Relief Road.

“This project has been talked about for some 20 years and is now moving forward to the planning stages. This funding announcement is yet another milestone in the journey towards making this long-held dream a tangible reality that will benefit local people and Suffolk as a whole.”

Colin Law, leader of Waveney District Council said: “We are absolutely delighted that funding has been secured for the Beccles Southern Relief Road.

“The Government clearly understands the importance and the potential of our district for economic growth and this is a huge boost for the Enterprise Zone and for job creation at a time when our local economy is showing genuine signs of recovery.”

Waveney MP Peter Aldous has also been a keen supporter of the proposed relief road.

“My view on a southern relief road is that it is a very good, worthwhile, value for money project,” he said.

Other projects which received funding from the Government’s Local Growth Fund included an extra £10m towards a project to get fast broadband to rural areas of Suffolk and Norfolk and £10m for Lowestoft College which will be used to create a new engineering, catering and hospitality block.

What are your views on the southern relief road for Beccles? Write to bbj.letters@archant.co.uk or Letters to the Editor, Beccles and Bungay Journal, 20 Blyburgate, Beccles NR34 9TV