Report of the North West (Outer) Area Committee (NOWAC), March 26 2013
12 councillors vote 11:1 criticising NGT
This committee consists of 12 Leeds City councillors representing the wards of Otley and Yeadon, Horsforth, Adel and Wharfedale, Guiseley and Rawdon. It includes Ryk Downes, an Otley and Yeadon councillor. He is a former chairman of Metro and Liberal Democrats leader on the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority. The Committee agreed to hold a debate on NGT on the above date. Members of Metro were there to answer questions and matters arisng from the discussion from questions.
Members of the public were invited to give representations. Residents from Holt Park stated they were against the NGT trolleybus. John Dickinson of Weetwood Residents Association gave a very good presentation. In addition a laminated sheet was given out to each of the sitting members as is shown below.
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- The impact of “traffic stacking” on the X84 times. How much will the journey time be extended?
- Is the NGT scheme being subsidised by cutbacks of subsidies of the early/late bus services in communities of NWOAC?
- How will the £19.2 million from LCC + overrun costs impact on service cuts and council tax in the communities covered by NWOAC?
- The Park and Ride – Will electors use it after driving their cars there and then get on a trolley bus for 21 minutes in the rush hour? Will there be charges on the car park? What would be the aesthetic & environmental impact of an 800-space car park on Bodington fields?
- Why can’t hopper buses and better park and ride facilities be improved for Horsforth, Guiseley, and Menston (Otley) rail stations?
- When will the plans be released in an accessible form for the public to see, so an informed opinion can be made? Why is the consultation period after their release only 42 days?
- How do the councillors feel about the proposed 50% reduction in the number 1 and 6 bus services?
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The response of the councillors was very interesting. They were sceptical and challenged the Metro report in many details with tenacity. They even challenged the business case, costs, consultation effectiveness, loss of bus service etc, predicted journey time and environmental impact.
Dave Haskins, NGT Project Director with another member of NGT tried to answer each point raised in detail. I was impressed by the questioning of Dave Haskins replies. The group of councillors was well-informed. The councillors were even more critical and eventually passed the motion (the wording might be different a little):
[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”630px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]“This Committee remains to be convinced that the NGT scheme represents any substantive improvement on present transport arrangements in Leeds”[/dropshadowbox]
The vote was 11 for and 1 against. The councillors requested that this decision and the minutes be readied for the full council meeting in April and called the NGT team to return in September with clear answers to their questions.
Two important points from Dave Haskins (who was calm & professional throughout)
- He stated categorically that the NGT team had never labeled the scheme rapid transport and said it averaged 12mph.
- The consultation period with a web-based view of the layout will open in May through to September (perhaps longer)
Trevor Bavage
