Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
£100k new Metro director plan axed
Monday 12th January 2009, 11:29AM GMT.
Plans to spend £100,000 of taxpayers’ money each year on a director to look for ways to fund an expansion of the Midland Metro have been scrapped, it was revealed today.
More than six months has been spent on a feasibility report into whether or not to pay the salary, jointly funded by Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell and Dudley councils and transport authority Centro.
The director would have worked with Wolverhampton City Council chief executive Richard Carr to find more than £253 million to extend trams to Brierley Hill and further into Wolverhampton city centre.
Mr Carr said: “Rather than appoint a permanent Metro director, we have instead decided to do the necessary work in stages and to commission specific pieces of work as we complete each stage.”
Wolverhampton regeneration chief, Councillor Paddy Bradley, said: “The decision to look at this was taken before the elections in May when Labour still controlled the council. The job would be an obscene use of public money given the current economic climate, especially when we have experienced people within all the civic centres of the Black Country who could do this job between them.”
Regeneration chief under Labour, Councillor Peter Bilson, said: “I am concerned that this decision will look to people outside our sub-region that we are not pulling together. I hope that this does not lead to a stalling of the plans to extend the Metro which is fundamental to the recovery of the local economy.”
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Dont want to see it extended. Its a nuisance down the Bilston Road as it is, especially by the New Inn Chinese.
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Ah, so we should forget expanding a method of public transport in favour of continuing to use existing methods of getting around?
Seriously, paying someone £100k a year is dirt cheap to get £253 million.
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Well done to the council for scrapping this job. There are enough experienced officers within Black Country counciks and CENTRO who could do this job between them
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can someone explain to me if the existing metro pays its way. if not why do we need more white elephants.we shall have to spend millions finding a place for these money gobbling animals to live i suggest a good place would be the public in west bromwich it semms that no humans are ever going to use it
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How nice to see such huge salaries for public servants.
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I think they’re only doing this because they are fearful of public outcry, and also to fall in line with elections. Under normal circumstance the council(s) would be spending this kind of money on race equality schemes, it’s not like they’re used to saving money.
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Typical Tory “parish” pro car mentality, as per usual.
The Tories, together with their Lib Dem henchmen, have once again decided to disriminate against the pedestrians. Truth is they don’t really care about global warming or standing up for ordinary people’s needs.
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wish I could earn £100k, how does any person warrant that sort of wage, when a lot of people are being asked to take a pay cut
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yikes, don’t pull together with sandwell, we’ll have to pay for the public art black hole next. Then they’ll decide we should all use pogo sticks. Just ask the people of wolves what they want, they’re the ones using it, not driving to a parking space in the civic for the council elitists.
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When the reservoir is empty it is pointless investing in pipework to extract the contents.
A wise decision. It would be £100,000 (plus admin charges at 260% = £360,000) good money chasing bad.
The extension to Merry Hell is not viable. The extension into Wton could be done less expensively and the nuisance on Bilston Road removed by extending via Low Level Station and up Broad Street/Railway Street…. Cheaper and more useful…. Yes there would need to be a few other improvements to the roads but again more useful than what is proposed.
Then retain the Wolverhampton to Walsall railway, add stations at Neachells Lane, Willenhall….. Allow the new service from Cheshire to call at Wton Low Level…. Marvelous. A real service at a fraction of the cost.
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It would be insane to pay £100,000 to “create” a new post. That is what the former Labour council in Wolverhampton used to do at the drop of a hat, before the people of this fantastic city spoke out and got rid of them.
Wolverhampton is now trying to claw it’s way out of 20 years of mismanagement and the wasteful(past & present)Labour councillors outght to be ashamed of their performance.
Shame on you, these decisions need to be made and I for one, am glad that the current administration are making them!
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Wayne, if it took that long to get rid of Labour council, maybe people weren’t so bothered about such mismanagement for a while.
I still think a £100k a year post to get the amount they are looking for is well worth it.
Charities pay almost as much for fundraising directors who have a remit to get a lot less money in. Or do people think the council should make the post a £15k a year one and get an unskilled person to get the money?
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Martin, your first comment about people about people not being bothered is utter nonesense. Had the Wulfrunians been aware of the absolute mess and debt that was being created then I’m certain they would have got rid of them sooner.
If you read the Express & Star regularly, you would have seen the amount of Labour debt that the Tories have uncovered by “rolling up the carpet” since they and the Liberals took control. There was unly so long that Labour could hide the mess and it was criminal.
Your second point agoint paying £15,000 per year leads me to believe that you didn’t even read the article that you are commenting on;
“The job would be an obscene use of public money given the current economic climate, especially when we have experienced people within all the civic centres of the Black Country who could do this job between them.”
You are the only person that has intimated paying peanuts to get monkeys!
Every person living in Wolverhampton is aware of the mess Labour created in Wolverhampton. The vast majority will be pleased to see a group of people that have come in to cut the cancer out of the Council.
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Absolutely Wayne! Too true.
Mr Davis sounds like a spokesman for the last zanu-liebour dictatorship, I don’t believe a word he says.
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