A COUNCILLOR has hit out at a government scheme in an ongoing row over funding for a major transport initiative.

Although welcoming the opportunity to bid for government cash, Eastleigh Borough Council leader Cllr Keith House highlighted how a pot of money available from Westminster to bid for the Chickenhall Lane Link Road was a step backwards from its original funding pledge.

However, the £475 million Local Majors Fund announced in the Budget has been welcomed by Conservative Eastleigh MP Mims Davies, who said she had lobbied hard in government to help bring it about.

She hit back at the Liberal Democrat leader’s criticism, pointing to delays in a major council building project and what she said was a lack of detail about the road scheme in the council’s future planning documents.

As reported, chancellor George Osborne’s Budget said there would be a fund to support major road projects in the south east and directly referenced the Eastleigh link road as an example.

The link road, which has been talked about for the past 30 years, would run north of junction 5 of the M27 from the A335 Southampton Road to Chickenhall Lane at an estimated cost of £120 million.

Those in favour say it would divert HGVs onto the motorway, alleviating traffic in the town centre.

It could also open up inaccessible areas at the former railways works north of Southampton Airport for employment land, creating jobs.

Mr Osborne pledged to start £2.4 billion of transport improvements in the south within 100 days of a Conservative election victory during last year’s election campaign.

This included beginning work on the link road.

After being elected Ms Davies had said she would work to fulfil the pledged road.

Cllr House has previously joined ousted Liberal Democrat MP Mike Thornton in criticising the lack of action on the scheme.

Responding to the news in the Budget, he told members of the cabinet at a meeting that it showed the government had moved “backwards” from the pledge they had been chasing for the last year.

“This is a bid for funding not the guarantee of funding that we were assured of,” he said.

However, he said it was “a positive statement” and took the naming of the scheme as an indication that the government was keen to receive a bid.

Ms Davies said it was not enough for people to say they wanted the link road and there had to be proof of its value to make a positive bid.

“No-one’s just going to write you a cheque,” she said.

“There has been pledges across the country and it’s not just a question of when - we’re under pressure with public finances.

“You have got to continue to make the case for it - it’s not as simple as that.

“I’d really like to see a Local Plan which actually has more than a couple of lines on it.”

She also pointed to the Fleming Park Leisure Centre redevelopment which had been originally set to open this summer.

“When I’m being asked to deliver a road within 100 days. I’ll try my best to do it as soon as possible when I see the Fleming Park Leisure Centre delivered by the Rio Olympics,” she said.

Cllr House and the council has faced criticism in recent weeks, with demands for more detail on how it will cut £1million from this year’s Budget.

There was also concern about the council’s level of borrowing that will reach £154million by the end of this year.

Cllr House was even likened to Russian President Vladimir Putin by Cllr Suzy Hamel after he axed her from the cabinet for speaking out on the issue.