'Tram must be local decision'

10:11am Friday 9th February 2007

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SHADOW Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has spoken out against the West London Tram saying "local people should decide".

In an exclusive Ealing Times interview, the high profile cabinet member said it would be wrong for central government to push the scheme through.

"Everything I have heard is people are against it. It would increase congestion on the Uxbridge Road and have an impact on shops.

"We believe decisions are best taken by local people. Local people know the area and traffic problems better than anyone else. It is a decision for the local council."

All three leaderships in the boroughs affected by the proposed routes are opposed to the scheme and council officers are now preparing for a legal battle with Transport for London to stop the unpopular transport idea.

A MORI poll conducted last October - the latest TfL survey - showed the majority were opposed to the proposals.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone had said he would "rethink" the scheme if the survey showed people were against it.

The results found that 44 per cent of residents were opposed to the planned tram and that only 40 per cent supported the scheme.

But despite these findings, Mr Livingstone announced TfL would be applying for a Transport Works Order for the proposal with the ultimate aim of starting work towards the end of 2007.

Ealing Council leader Cllr Jason Stacey said: "This survey confirms that the more people know about the tram the more they are likely to oppose it. We will fight these proposals every step of the way and if the Mayor takes this muddle-headed scheme to a public inquiry we will take him on."

The new poll also reveals the number of people strongly opposed has jumped from 25 per cent in 2005 to 33 per cent in just one year.

And the number of those strongly in favour also faltered, dropping from 23 to 19 per cent.

Richard Barnes, London Assembly Conservative member for Ealing and Hillingdon, has accused the mayor of behaving undemocratically.

He said: "His heavy-handed decision makes a mockery of local democracy.

"The local electorate made their feelings toward this ill-advised scheme crystal clear at the ballot box, yet to no avail - their pleas have been steamrollered as surely as the Uxbridge Road and its businesses will now be.

"There is a vein of autocracy that runs right to the core of this mayoralty; a stubbornness to listen to popular opinion especially when it concerns his pet projects'."

The West London Tram is set to cost an estimated £1billion, which critics say could better be spent on improving roads and bus links.