Richard recently asked the transport minister if there was any sign of a business case for East West Rail. There isn't but East West Rail has announced that its fourth consultation is opening on 14 April.
Richard Fuller MP said:
There's still no sign of a business plan for the countryside-destroying and heavily loss-making East West Rail.
It is not good enough that a project, that by the Government's own reckoning will return just 30p for every £1 of taxpayers' money spent, can be allowed to obfuscate and delay publishing the business case for why it should be permitted to go ahead. With taxes at an all-time high the Government has an obligation to look more closely at areas of egregious spending that could be cut.
A non-statutory consultation will open on 14th April which will contain the latest proposals for the scheme - including new stations and services. This follows their “You Said We Did” report published last November.
The Government’s new Planning laws passed in December removed the obligation for developers to carry out pre application consultations meaning they need only focus on “key areas” of local concern. The new law also removed the requirement to consult on preliminary environmental information reports. Let’s see how take four goes…
