Earlier this month, the Manchester Evening News reported that a staggering £16m of taxpayers’ money has been spent on planning for the Mottram to Tintwistle by-pass in Tameside. The Highways Agency are on their fifth attempt at getting the scheme through, and it has yet to even pass through a public enquiry which seems to have been kicked into the long grass. The most recent projections put the total cost of the 3.5 mile by-pass, if it ever comes to fruition, at a huge £315m.
Also this month, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon approved a £165m spend on a relief road between Hazel Grove and Manchester Airport. The total cost to the taxpayer for this project may be in excess of £500m.
So that’s £480m pledged by the Government (with more likely to come) for about ten miles of road – a full third of the total money that Greater Manchester has been offered from the TIF grant.
Now I have no problem with that spending if these projects are the right thing to do, and I have no local knowledge about the benefits or drawbacks of either scheme. The question is – why are the Government prepared to hand over vast sums of money for road-building schemes – no strings attached – but when it comes to handing over similar-sized amounts of money for public transport schemes we have the blackmail element of the introduction of a congestion charge?
Well Iain living in Tameside myself nothing surprises me anymore with our Labour Council wasting money.
The By Pass has arguements on both sides but for so much money to have been spent on this white elephant and no construction to have taken place is quite shocking a waste of council tax payers money and tax payers money in general.
In fact it’s criminal
hi Iain,
i think we must all call for a national debate on how the billions we pay in taxes to use the roads are spent.
what was it a tenth of what we pay in taxes is reinvested back into the roads.
to put this con-charge on top without the proper regulation will lead to problems down the line.
I will say again, this scheme is ill thought out and in its effort to try and appease enough people to vote yes will get mired in beauracracy. (apologies for the spelling)
there are alternatives, but given that leaders switch from discussing their own city, to sub region, and when i try to raise issues that effect the whole connerbation and am told to talk to my city council I dont think the ‘yes’ camp truly want to listen.
they keep repeating no plan ‘b’, what type of forward planning is that, oops we should have listened to the people, what are we going to do now….
When are the Labour Councillors of Salford who have voted this issue through the city council going to come out and defend it like the likes of Leese and co…or are they afraid of going the same route as Roger Jones.
Enough ranting… for now