Madcap A24 Scheme to hit Council Tax Bills.
In this dreadful economic climate, with everyone tightening their belts and wondering where the money to pay next year’s council tax is coming from, it is outrageous that the County Council should even be contemplating spending money on road schemes that may never get any government funding. Members of the A24 Alliance were staggered to read that the WSCC Environmental Services Select Committee was recommending that the County should go ahead with compulsory purchase orders and planning applications for its A24 scheme to convert the road into a M24 superhighway, without first guaranteeing that the Department for Transport was going to fund it.
Said Peter Finch of the A24 Alliance: "The Department of Transport asked for a new business case from the County Council a while ago. That looked to us like the Department thought that the County Council's scheme was not worthwhile even then. Now, with Government cutbacks widely reported, we doubt that the Government has any money for such an unnecessary and outdated scheme".
“The A24 Alliance has consistently said that the A24 can be made safe with just minor roadwork’s costing a fraction of the 10’s of millions estimated for the council scheme”.
Peter Finch continued: "We remember the County Council's madcap scheme to build a 4 lane motorway style road through Worthing. There again it compulsory bought land and blighted the lives of those living alongside the road for years. Full permission was never given, the Council eventually backed down leaving the taxpayer to pay the residents vast sums of money in compensation. That was costly and damaging to the Council's reputation then. Why are they now even thinking of repeating such a mistake? Have they not learnt?"
ENDS~~~~~~~~
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