Two press releases that have come my way:

Date: 23.01.07
Release: Immediate
Photocall: 0800 24th January 2006 Junction of Uxbridge Road and Wood Lane

Title: West London Tram Could Put Council Tax up £315

Campaigners against the West London Tram have warned that the project could
leave Londoners with a bill of £315 for every household in the capital. The
figures were revealed on the eve of a major Tram Summit, organised by the
three councils affected, to rally opposition against the scheme.

The summit will be held on Wednesday 24th January, at 7pm in Shepherd's Bush
Library. This is the first time all three directly affected councils -
Ealing, Hillingdon and Hammersmith & Fulham - have come together to discuss
ways to fight the scheme.

The councils fear that the Tram will cause gridlock in West London, whilst
leaving taxpayers with a construction bill of £1bn. This is because new
build trams, like the one in Sheffield, have never been able to recover
their capital costs.

The Tram is also unpopular; a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of
Transport for London showed a majority of residents opposed the scheme. 53%
do not believe they would derive any benefit at all from the Tram.

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, said,

"This tram will cause misery for commuters by effectively closing down
Uxbridge Road. It is unpopular with residents and is likely to leave
taxpayers massively out of pocket. We welcome investment in public transport
but this scheme will only bring gridlock to our already congested roads."

/ENDS

Notes to editors:

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Representatives of all three councils will be available
for photos and interviews at 08:00 24th January 2007 on the junction of
Uxbridge Road and Wood Lane. They will be unveiling a banner entitled "West
London Says No".

1. Transport for London's Survey in 2006 showed that 46% of residents
opposed the West London Tram.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/trams/download...tober-2006.pdf.
Far less where in favour.

2. Ealing Council voted to oppose the Tram on 18th May 2006
(http://www.tfl.gov.uk/trams/download...ober-2006.pdf),
Hillingdon voted to oppose the tram on 26th January 2006
(http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/central...il_26jan06.pdf)
Hammersmith & Fulham Council leadership first announced their opposition on
10th May 2006.

3. The £315 figure is based on a £1bn estimate for the build cost, this is
divided by the total number of households in London (according the London
Councils 2007 Local Government Directory) 3,171,664.

Andre Walker
Communications Officer
Hammersmith & Fulham Council
Town Hall
King Street
Hammersmith
W6 9JU

Date: 24.01.07
Release: Immediate

Declaration of War Against the West London Tram

All three boroughs along the proposed route of the West London Tram will
come together today to hold a summit declaring war on the scheme. The
councils fear that the tram - estimated to cost £1bn - will displace traffic
onto residential streets, choking West London.

From the outset the Tram has been unpopular within its catchment area; a
survey conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Transport for London showed a
majority of residents opposed the scheme. Whilst 53% do not believe they
would derive any benefit at all from it. However, this is the first time
that all three councils have met since they all formally came out against
the scheme, a process which has gradually taken place over the last 12
months.

The West London Tram could cost up to £1bn, equivalent to £315 for every
household in the capital. Money that the councils say could be better spent.
The Summit will take place at 7pm in Shepard's Bush Library (24th January
2007).

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, said,
" The tram is far too costly and the Uxbridge Road is far too narrow for
this scheme to make any sense. Think about what could be achieved with £1bn:
more police, better public services or a reduction is council tax: isn't it
a waste to throw all this money away on one white elephant transport scheme.

Residents, councillors and road users are all coming together to fight the
Tram, we think its time that Ken Livingstone took notice."

/ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Transport for London ' s Survey in 2006 showed that 46% of residents
opposed the West London Tram.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/trams/download...tober-2006.pdf.
Far less were in favour.

2. Ealing Council voted to oppose the Tram on 18th May 2006
(http://www.tfl.gov.uk/trams/download...ober-2006.pdf),
Hillingdon voted to oppose the tram on 26th January 2006
(http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/central...il_26jan06.pdf)
Hammersmith & Fulham Council leadership first announced their opposition in
October 2005.

3. The £315 figure is based on a £1bn estimate for the build cost, this is
divided by the total number of households in London (according the London
Councils 2007 Local Government Directory) 3,171,664.

Andre Walker
Communications Officer
Hammersmith & Fulham Council
Town Hall
King Street
Hammersmith
W6 9JU

Ah well, there's a surprise. The 3 councils concerned are all
Conservative controlled. Obviously there's been NO co-ordination there,
and NO scaremongering by Conservative politicians scrambling for votes.


I certainly don't remember Croydon, Bromley's and Merton's Council Tax
increasing exponentially to pay for the Tramlink. But, hey, why let the
truth get in the way of a good story, eh ?

On 24 Jan, 12:13, wrote:
Ah well, there's a surprise. The 3 councils concerned are all
Conservative controlled. Obviously there's been NO co-ordination there,
and NO scaremongering by Conservative politicians scrambling for votes.

I certainly don't remember Croydon, Bromley's and Merton's Council Tax
increasing exponentially to pay for the Tramlink. But, hey, why let the
truth get in the way of a good story, eh ?

Exactly. And there hasn't been anything like this sort of NIMBYism
with the Camden-Peckham route. Indeed, even in Peckham, the people
most affected by it (those who will lose their business/studio space
due to the construction of a depot) are still in favour of the project
as a whole.

Patrick

On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 wrote:

Ah well, there's a surprise. The 3 councils concerned are all
Conservative controlled.

And why? Because last year the two Labour-controlled councils were voted
out because they supported the tram.

--
Thoss

On 24 Jan, 12:14, "Tim Roll-Pickering"
wrote:
The Tram is also unpopular; a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of
Transport for London showed a majority of residents opposed the scheme. 53%
do not believe they would derive any benefit at all from the Tram.

So in other words 47% (almost half the people surveyed) believe they
will. That to me sounds a lot higher than for most public transport
schemes. But presumably if you're being so black and white about it ,
if it suddenly changed to 51% you'd be all for it would you?


Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, said,

"This tram will cause misery for commuters by effectively closing down
Uxbridge Road. It is unpopular with residents and is likely to leave

Umm , am I missing something or isn't the tram FOR commuters? Why would
they all still need to be driving once its built?

Uxbridge Road and Wood Lane. They will be unveiling a banner entitled "West
London Says No".

Should that read "53% of west london say they're not sure".

3. The £315 figure is based on a £1bn estimate for the build cost, this is

Amazing what numbers you can come up with if you pick a few at random
and multiply them. Where exactly is the cost breakdown for this huge
sum please?

Declaration of War Against the West London Tram

Who thought that slogan up , some from ealing college student union?

B2003

On 24 Jan, 15:11, "Boltar" wrote:
Umm , am I missing something or isn't the tram FOR commuters? Why would
they all still need to be driving once its built?

Because maybe they don't want to go exactly where the tram is going?

How exactly will the tram route affect cyclists, by the way?

On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:00:41 +0000, thoss
wrote:

On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 wrote:

Ah well, there's a surprise. The 3 councils concerned are all
Conservative controlled.

And why? Because last year the two Labour-controlled councils were voted
out because they supported the tram.

Though I was amused to see a poster in a house here (Ealing,
Northfields ward) with two posters: one saying "Vote NO Tram" and one
saying "Vote Labour".

wrote:

Ah well, there's a surprise. The 3 councils concerned are all
Conservative controlled. Obviously there's been NO co-ordination there,
and NO scaremongering by Conservative politicians scrambling for votes.

Most if not all of the three councils were won on a platform that includes
opposing the tram - this is a case of politicians fulfilling their promises!

On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:43:30 -0000, "Tim Roll-Pickering"
wrote:

wrote:

Ah well, there's a surprise. The 3 councils concerned are all
Conservative controlled. Obviously there's been NO co-ordination there,
and NO scaremongering by Conservative politicians scrambling for votes.

Most if not all of the three councils were won on a platform that includes
opposing the tram - this is a case of politicians fulfilling their promises!

Treasure it while it lasts, it'll be a long time till the next one!
:-)

On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:14:16 -0000, Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:

Date: 23.01.07
Release: Immediate

Title: West London Tram Could Put Council Tax up £315

This is the first I've heard of the Tram being funded by a Council Tax
increase. Won't it just be paid for out of existing transport budgets?

The Tram is also unpopular; a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of
Transport for London showed a majority of residents opposed the scheme. 53%
do not believe they would derive any benefit at all from the Tram.

Just because you don't derive any benefit from something doesn't mean
you're opposed to it.

I don't receive any personal benefit from the public funding of most
of the bus routes in London (or of ScotRail, or disability benefit),
but that doesn't mean I'm opposed to them.

"This tram will cause misery for commuters by effectively closing down
Uxbridge Road.

Only if "effectively closing down" means the same as "keeping open to
buses, trams, cycles, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles throughout,
and closing to cars only at one point, while increasing the capacity
of the road by widening pinch points".

And why would commuters be miserable that their journey by Tram is
faster than was previously ever possible (by bus or car)?

Notes to editors:

1. Transport for London's Survey in 2006 showed that 46% of residents
opposed the West London Tram.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/trams/download...tober-2006.pdf.

Why do they point this out? It appears to be the same survey they
referred to above, and therefore contradicts what they claimed!

3. The £315 figure is based on a £1bn estimate for the build cost,

What method did they use to come up with this estimate? This is more
than double the official estimate for the cost (£463m). The budgeted
cost, which includes a 40% risk premium, is £648m. The main anti-tram
website, Save Ealing's Streets, doesn't dispute the official figure.

Given that they don't say, and the co-incidence that it's such a round
figure, unless further clarification arrives I can only assume that
they used the pull-a-figure-out-of-your-arse-to-make-a-nice-headline
method.

Date: 24.01.07
Release: Immediate

Declaration of War Against the West London Tram

Think about what could be achieved with £1bn:
more police, better public services or a reduction is council tax: isn't it
a waste to throw all this money away on one white elephant transport scheme.

Right. So while the previous press release claimed that the Tram would
be entirely funded by a big Council Tax increase, this one (from the
same people) suggests that binning the project will leave a £1bn
surplus kicking around, which would be freely available to spend on
other public services or to give a reduction in Council Tax.

They're not doing their credibility any favours here.