The Uxbridge Road Tram plan
In the first signs of a change of heart over the controversial plans for a tram along the Uxbridge Road the Mayor of London has said he may be prepared to ditch the plan if a Brown led government approves Crossrail.
Uxbridge Road Tram wobble - 27/06/07
Speaking on ITV’s The London Debate last week, Mr Livingstone revealed, “If we get Crossrail we will review whether or not we proceed with the tram.”
Campaigners against the £800million folly – including an alliance of all three councils along the route – now sense the first signs of a softening of the Mayor’s position.
Arguing against the 13 mile tram line Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, said, “This is the first sign of a wobble from the Mayor on the Uxbridge Road tram. Until last week his blinkered approached meant that he was not prepared to listen to other transport solutions. This council, along with the vast majority of local residents, has been saying for years that the tram will cause misery for commuters by effectively closing down Uxbridge Road. At last it seems we may be starting to get through to him.”
Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Hillingdon councils held a tram summit earlier this year to rally opposition against the scheme. The summit coincided with a MORI poll on behalf of Transport for London that showed a majority of residents opposed the scheme and with 53 per cent believing they would not derive any benefit at all from the tram.
Sam Covington, who questioned the Mayor at The London Debate, says, “We are all delighted that The Mayor is not totally committed to the West London Tram. Having said that, Save Shepherd's Bush Streets (SSBS) will continue to raise awareness of the proposed tramway and fight tooth and nail to stop it happening.”
Campaigners have long argued that the tram would lead to side roads becoming clogged up with cars rat-running though densely packed residential streets as well as killing off local shops along the route. The tram proposal has already cost hard-pressed taxpayers £40million and is now 18 months behind schedule.
Cllr Greenhalgh, concludes, “The Mayor’s wobble is welcome but this council and the neighbouring boroughs of Ealing and Hillingdon will continue to back residents in the fight against this ludicrous and costly Uxbridge Road tram scheme until it is shelved, once and for all.”
H&F Council has been campaigning for Crossrail to stop at Willesden Junction to give and added boost to residents and businesses in the north of the borough.
Tram delayed but still on its way - 11/06/07
Hammersmith and Fulham residents have been warned that proposals for a tramway along Uxbridge Road have not gone away.
At a public meeting organised by Save Shepherds Bush Streets at Bush Hall, local residents heard how plans for the tram are still being progressed behind the scenes by Transport for London, despite there being no response from the Mayor of London to the united opposition, from residents all along the route, from Uxbridge to Shepherds Bush.
“With the TfL board meeting now looking set for October, this means the objection period of 42 days will be starting around the Christmas period, which means we need to begin preparing our objections now,” says Annabel Clarke of Hammersmith Against the Tram, an alliance of residents groups and societies.
The wall of opposition now extends the length of the proposed route, with residents’ campaign groups joining forces with Hillingdon, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham councils to resist the plans. Both H&F’s MPs, Andrew Slaughter and Greg Hands are also backing the campaign. They fear the tram will be like having the Docklands Light Railway running up the Uxbridge Raod, killing off local shops, pharmacies, launderettes and other small businesses.
Virginia Ironside, speaking on behalf of Save Shepherds Bush Streets, which was set up in 2003 to campaign against the tram, said: “Far from being a green issue, the tram plan is commercially driven. It will ruin local shops and small traders. Bikes will not be allowed on the tram. Trees will have to be cut down all along the route and there will be 40% fewer stops than on the current bus route. It will be a nightmare that will cost us millions.”
Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader of the Council, said, “The Council is fighting the tram scheme tooth and nail. Working closely with the other affected boroughs - Ealing, Hillingdon and Kensington and Chelsea – we’re taking on consultants to expose all the flaws in TfL’s figures and arguments so that the scheme will be defeated at a public inquiry”.
The tram timetable
- TfL internal approvals process leading to TfL Board: Summer/Autumn 2007
- Subject to the above, Transport Works Order application to DfT Secretary of State: Winter 2007/8
- Formal Objection period: 42 days following submission of application
- Public Inquiry: Late Summer/Autumn 2008
- Inspector's Report: mid 2010
- Secretary of State decision: late 2010/early 2011
- Works commence (subject to above): 2012 for a period of 5 years
- Tram implementation: from 2016
Useful contacts
Save Shepherds Bush Streets: www.ssbs.org.uk
Hammersmith Against the Tram: hammersmithagainstthetram@gmail.com.
Transport for London: www.tfl.gov.uk or emailwestlondontram@tfl.gov.uk
Summit to help stop ‘crazy’ tram scheme - 16/01/07
The West London Tram – which it is feared could cost up to £1 billion to build - is strongly opposed by H & F Council, as well as Ealing and Hillingdon councils, who are backing residents and businesses in their fight to stop the hugely controversial scheme. Despite massive opposition, the Mayor of London is keen to press ahead with the scheme and is due to ask Transport for London’s board to seek legal powers from Parliament to build it. The move is likely to prompt a full public inquiry.
Invited residents’ groups and community groups will join councillors and council officers at a summit at Shepherds Bush Library at 7pm to discuss their next steps in the fight to stop the tram in its tracks. H&F Council also plans to ask representatives from Ealing to join the meeting.
Cllr Nicholas Botterill, cabinet member for environment, said: “The tram scheme would be a crazy waste of money which will bring enormous disruption to residents and businesses and will replace a flexible transport system of buses and cars with what is effectively a railway down the middle of our high streets. Transport for London has yet to find the money for the scheme, which is estimated to cost up to £800 million and could easily end up costing £1 billion. We need to ensure that the Mayor of London gets the message that opposition to the tram is not going away.”
Cllr Botterill will be joined at the Tram Summit by the council’s chairman of planning, Cllr Lucy Ivimy, as well as senior council officers.
Opposition to the plan - 23/11/06
There have been years of uncertainty over whether or not the Mayor of London is really pursuing plans for a tram along the Uxbridge Road. Despite his repeated public statements about why he wants to foist a tram upon us, real action has been surprisingly unforthcoming. A decision by the TfL board, and the application to the Secretary of State for the necessary legal order to do it, have been repeatedly delayed. The budget, approaching £700 million, has not been sorted out. In fact, after questioning from the London Assembly, the Mayor has admitted that no funding had been secured for the proposal – and that he would have to apply to borrow money from the Government, possibly in the 2009 spending review. The eventual cost could top £1bn. At H&F council we are calling on the Mayor to come clean and admit that a tram along Uxbridge Road is just not going to happen.
The council thinks the tram would be far too costly to make economic sense and that the Uxbridge Road is far too narrow for the scheme to make practical sense. The tram is both undesirable and unworkable. Repeated questions from residents and well as from neighbouring Ealing Council, have gone unanswered. What will the detailed tram plan look like? Will trams run up the centre of existing roads or up the sides? Where will displaced traffic go? Where will the construction depots be sited? Where will the Shepherds Bush terminus fit into the current landscape? All these, and many more details, are still unknown.
The tram would also have a devastating impact on local businesses. Many of the businesses lining Uxbridge Road are the sort whose turnover is directly related to the number of people who pass by them i.e. newsagents, cafes, convenience stores, take-aways and restaurants. They will be devastated during the construction period when access will be limited or non-existent and may not survive into the new era of trams when there will inevitably be fewer passers by able to stop and shop.
We are deeply concerned about the impact on residents’ enjoyment of Shepherds Bush Green area and on pinch points along the way, especially around the existing market. It is clear that in replacing the 207, 427 and 607 bus services, the tram route would have fewer stops, but we still have no details on how many of the existing bus stops will be scrapped and what the impact will be on other bus routes in the area.
To obtain powers to construct and operate the tram (including powers to acquire any land needed), the Mayor has to apply for an order under the Transport and Works Act 1992 and it has to be confirmed by the Secretary of State for Transport. We would then have an opportunity to speak up for residents and put the case against the proposal. The Secretary of State then has to appoint an independent inspector to hold a public inquiry before the scheme could go ahead and we will, with your support, be making a very strong case against this mad-cap scheme if it ever sees the real light of day.
Send us your views on the Uxbridge Road Tram plan
Please read our publishing rules regarding your views
