'Junction 7A would be really helpful': Call for new M5 motorway junction
Call for new M5 motorway junction to support growth
A new M5 motorway junction could unlock future growth and investment in Worcestershire, councillors have been told.
Business leaders say a junction 7A serving Malvern could support economic expansion and job creation.
Malvern Hills Science Park chief executive Alan White said the site employs around 400 people and contributes about £22 million annually to the local economy.
But he said: “Further phases of growth are stymied by things like the cost of construction, land costs, and also infrastructure.”
At Worcestershire County Council’s economic overview and scrutiny panel meeting on Wednesday, June 10, Councillor Martin Allen asked what specific infrastructure improvements would help the site grow.
Mr White said: “A Junction 7A on the M5 would be really helpful.
“Ultimately, the better connected the Malvern area is, the easier it is for business to do what it does.
“Heading south via Upton can be a bit traumatic, to get onto the M5.
“Heading north to get onto Junction 7 is much better than it was but wouldn’t it be great to have that direct link off the M5 into Malvern? I appreciate that’s just a pipe dream.”
He also called on councillors to lobby for continued investment in railways, saying train journeys can be slow between Malvern and Birmingham.
Council deputy leader and cabinet member for business Adam Kent said the science park is a “hotbed of defence, technical, science and other aspects”.
He said there needs to be more of an “American buzz” about the science park, adding: “I’m going to be looking over the next few months to see what we can do to get as many high paid jobs into Malvern as we can.”
Cllr Kent said: “I was just thinking about Junction 7A, how long that would take and the effort in carving a motorway through all that farmland.
“The interesting aspect is Junction 7, particularly with the Parkway development, and the success of Worcester Six at Junction 6.
“Those houses at Parkway will need jobs, and [the science park] is somewhere that can provide them.”