Council taxpayers in the West Midlands are to fund a £2million review which effectively takes a planned extension of the Midland Metro back to the drawing board after the Government refused to provide the cash for the project.
A unanimous vote earlier this month by council leaders from seven local authorities not to force congestion charging on the region’s motorists has meant that almost £400 million of funding from the Department for Transport for the proposed extension was denied.
Hopes of extending the tram system into Brierley Hill and further into Wolverhampton were left in tatters by the decision.
The plans were drawn up ready with an Act of Parliament granting planning permission for the extension, and with a £36million pledge from Merry Hill Centre owners Westfield.
Following the congestion charging refusal, transport chiefs have decided to go it alone and have proposed spending £2million to look at ways of getting the funding needed.
On Monday, councillors on Centro, the West Midlands passenger transport authority, will be asked to agree to set the money aside from the budget when the new financial year starts in April. Centro is funded by Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Walsall, Dudley, Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry councils.
A report to Centro’s transport strategy committee reads: “The work will focus on developing funding proposals and will include a fundamental review of the options for extension and development of a business case which reflects new funding rules and revised legislation.”
Councillor Christine Mills, who represents Wolverhampton for the Tories on Centro’s panel, said: “Even if the Government had given us the money for the extension, it would still have been tax payers’ money being used. We now have to find other ways of extending the Metro and improving it.”
The review would include looking into running trams along disused freight railway tracks between Wednesbury and Brierley Hill, rather than laying new Metro tracks, in a bid to save on the cost. It could also see plans to extend the Metro along Birmingham’s Broad Street scrapped, with trams going only as far as Birmingham New Street railway station from Snow Hill.
10 Comments
Sorry, but thats theft.
Use of taxpayers money for something not needed is THEFT.
I want these people prosecuted.
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disgraceful you have a car and are stung for tax and now council tax to fund this what if you will never use it .it is theft
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the taxpayer stung again,nu labour keep banging on about green issues yet won’t help fund a clean tram system,yet they give over 800,000 million of our hard earned tax to fund roads in india,were’s the logic in that stupid british public footing the bill again plus it’s theft all this government are corrupt.
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Well im glad its going to go to something useful for a change unlike the Public which is a waist of tax payers money. Thats what I call theft as i would never use this building, were as the metro i use daily and would like to see it extended so I can travel further.
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How many of you will say this when attending the matches at Albion or the Wolves. many of you leave your cars around town then catch the metro to get the local grounds so you can watch your Pressures football matches.
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sharon 4 say you live miles away from the pick up points how do you get there drive or pay bus fare to station defeats object. how many benefit then merry hill centre owners why dont they cough up the other 2 million if they can afford the other 36
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Disgraceful decision by the Goverment. All the money for transport now I suppose will fund London Transport schemes. It’s about time the West Midlands had some public funding, it seems everything that’s built around here always as to be funded from private sources.
We also seem the last main population centre to get a light rail network, stange really when you consider we are the 2nd biggest outiside London
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Perhaps the process will concentrate minds. Perhaps they will now look at what is necessary, what is practicable and what is most cost-effective rather than what compromise can appease most councillors. Perhaps pigs will fly.
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So the hard-pressed taxpayer is going to be asked to cough up £2 million to look at new ways of spending more of our money on a scheme that is itself controversial.
I don’t want the Metro, I don’t want to pay for it, and I don’t want to pay for a series of meetings to look for ways in getting me to pay for it.
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This is disgusting - I have never used the tram and I don’t shop at Merry Hill or Birmingham. Why the hell should I help foot the bill? Raise prices on thee thing and start charging for parking at the Merry Hill to pay for it. Or better still, stop Wolverhampton Council recruiting ‘Senior’ staff members that arn’t needed and use the high salsries to pay for this!
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