Transport Package costs change – again


Costs go up while bus funding goes down

10/08/2011

The costs of Lib Dem-run B&NES Council's revised Bath Transport Package have been altered once again. Revised figures, obtained by Conservative Councillors, show that the costs of both the Newbridge and Lansdown Park & Ride extensions have increased while funding for new buses has been cut by over 85%.

The amount the Council now plans to invest in new buses has been slashed from nearly £3 million to just £400,000, representing a cut of 86%.

At the same time, the reported cost of the Newbridge Park & Ride extension has increased from £2.1 million to £2.2 million, despite the fact the extension has been cut in half from 500 to 250 spaces, while the cost of the Lansdown extension has increased by 47% from £830,000 to £1.2 million.

The Conservative Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport, Cllr Tim Warren, commented:

"Liberal Democrat Councillors said that they want the revised scheme to be about improved public transport, but it's hard to see how this is the case when the amount to be spent on new buses has been cut back from nearly £3 million to just £400,000.

"At the same time, the cost of the Newbridge Park & Ride extension, which the Lib Dems said they would scrap, has actually increased even though it will only be half the number of spaces. The cost of the Lansdown Park & Ride has also increased by almost 50%. These plans are becoming a shambles."

These revised figures mean that local Council Tax payers would now be forking out over half the total cost of the scheme, which was originally to be majority funded by the Department for Transport. The Council could yet have to put up more than the £17.8 million currently earmarked if £1.9m of funding from Western Riverside developer Crest Nicholson is not forthcoming, a sum which the Council itself now agrees is at risk.

Conservative Shadow Cabinet Member for Resources, Cllr Charles Gerrish, added:

"The Liberal Democrats are clearly not able to get their sums right over the cost of their revised Transport Package. It now looks like Council Tax payers are going to have to pay well over half the total cost of this scheme – and possibly even more if funding from Crest does not come through.

"The amount being asked from the Department for Transport is now so low that this package should be a dead cert for funding, unless the Department for Transport is concerned that the Council doesn't have a proper transport strategy, but it will come at a high cost to the Council."