Council leader accuses pro-TIF lobby of ‘misinformation’

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3:49 pm, October 6, 2008
Council leader accuses pro-TIF lobby of ‘misinformation’

A council leader claims that the £2.7bn Transport Innovation Fund will result in only one new school bus in his borough.

Councillor Dave Goddard, leader of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, was reacting to an announcement that TIF will lead to 120 new yellow school buses across Greater Manchester.

Goddard said that “information sent direct to my council by TIF on September 7 reveals that by 2013, there are plans for eight yellow school buses in our borough - a rise of exactly one on the current figure of seven. Is this what they call a huge expansion? Is this going to transform our school run? The answer has to be No."

GMPTE said it was too early to say how many additional buses there would be in Stockport. It added that the figure of one was "simply a mistake and has never been published".p>

Goddard, however, claimed the information was being suppressed.

He added: "We were given the information about the one yellow school bus in a draft copy of an advertisement, due to be placed by TIF in local newspapers.

“We of course queried the statistic. And when the advert was published, all reference to yellow buses had been removed. Is this honest and open communication?

“This is wrong and should not be happening at a time when the public ought to have transparent and robust information on this controversial project. Unfortunately, it is not the first time we have had to suffer misinformation over TIF and we now have to ask ourselves if we can trust the information they are putting in the public domain.

“An independent survey carried out by our council has showed more than two-thirds of our residents and three-quarters of our businesses did not support the introduction of a congestion charge. We will maintain a policy of opposition as long as the public of Stockport remains opposed."

The £2.7bn of TIF money is conditional on Greater Manchester introducing congestion charging, which would come in from 2013.

A GMPTE spokesman said: “The TIF package should secure 120 vehicles to support the mainstream roll out of yellow school buses across Greater Manchester. With TIF, Local Transport Plan funding and the Regional Funding Allocation, the full future Greater Manchester yellow school bus fleet should be in excess of 300 vehicles.

“The final numbers of vehicles will be determined through further dialogue with Local Education Authorities, so a firm figure for the specific Stockport TIF deployment cannot be provided at this stage.

“But the school destinations we will be looking to target with the additional TIF-funded yellow schools buses - to cater for pupils living in Stockport - include Hazel Grove High School, St Ambrose College in Trafford, Parrs Wood Technology College and Levenshulme High School in Manchester and St Thomas Moore School in Tameside.”

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