Councillors on Nottingham City Council are starting to fear that as well as the now Tory led County Council withdrawing their funding from the extensions to NET to Beeston, Chilwell and Clifton they will stand in the way of the complete project.
Nottinghamshire County Council officials are currently believed to be drawing up the paperwork to take to a Council meeting where agreement would be reached to completely withdraw their funding contribution. What the County Council will do towards the project after that remains subject to conjecture.
Cllr Graham Chapman, City Council Deputy Leader, said: “We have grounds to believe they are going to make it very difficult," he said. "I am appealing to the county council because of the massive consequences of what might happen. There could be an impact on the A453. There are other impacts such as the MediPark, other business parks, the QMC, and there is the redevelopment of Beeston town centre where the developer will not be very happy if the tram does not go ahead. There are a lot of implications they have not thought through."
Cllr Jane Urquhart, portfolio holder for transport, added: “NET Phase Two is too crucial to the future prosperity of Nottingham and the region to even contemplate pulling the plug on it. My colleagues and I have been approached by businesses pleading with us to ensure that we continue with the project. I want to be able to give them the reassurance that we will go ahead with our plans."
The County Council deny the allegations that the improvements to the A453 will be affected by the withdrawal of the tram. Cllr Richard Jackson, cabinet member for transport, said: “We do not accept that at all. The volume of traffic taken off the A453 would be nominal."
Source: This is Nottingham