Now that the small print behind this week’s transport announcements has sunk in, it’s clear that once again the people of Salford have got an extremely raw deal.
The Leigh Misguided Busway has received the green light. As I’ve commented many times before, this is a bonkers white elephant scheme which does not serve local communities in Salford but will significantly worsen congestion.
Worse, the Misguided Busway is the only significant element of the scheme based in Salford. So, we get one item that we don’t want, along with plenty of other schemes (mostly, unsurprisingly, in the City of Manchester) which we’ll barely use.
Guess what – we also get to pay through the nose for it! Our Council Tax is going up to fund improvements in Wythenshawe and Didsbury, that’s for sure.
Just as importantly, Salford’s local transport grants is being top-sliced to the tune of 40%. So, next time residents want a new cycle-way, or improvements to a road junction outwith the usual maintenance budget – forget it. Thanks to our Labour leadership all that money got blown on the White Elephant busway and on improvements in Manchester City.
Local residents are once again paying through the nose for no discernable benefit. If we were going to raise money, where were the common-sense improvements to rail services?
The money spent on the busway would have been much better deployed on improving infrastructure on the railway lines through Walkden, Eccles and Irlam, and on the much-needed changes at Salford Crescent – but no, our Labour leadership wanted the Leigh Guided Busway instead. Thanks.
David Cameron On The European Elections
Watch David Cameron’s reaction to the European election results…
Here in Salford, we narrowly failed to top the poll, with Labour ahead by just 900 votes and the Liberal Democrats in a poor fourth behind UKIP. This is a great result and we would have been comfortably ahead across the Worsley & Eccles South constituency.
Conservatives are now the only Party to have MEP representation in every part of the country, and now thanks to our link-up with the Ulster Unionists there is now an MEP elected under the Conservative banner in Northern Ireland too.