Decisions made by local transport authorities over the development of Leeds’ cancelled trolleybus and Supertram projects are to be scrutinised following the launch of a new inquiry.

 

The inquiry has been requested by Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake and will be undertaken by a cross party scrutiny panel. This comes after the city’s proposed £250M New Generation Trolleybus (NGT) scheme was rejected by the Department for Transport (DfT) in May on the basis of an inspector’s recommendation.

 

The inspector’s report concluded that the project – which would have seen a 14.8km route built north-south through the city centre with £173M of DfT funding – was not in the public interest.

 

NGT was the successor to the Leeds Supertram project, which was also scrapped by the DfT in 2005 on the grounds of affordability.

 

The scrutiny panel will now examine decisions made by the council, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the city’s public transport operators during the development of these failed projects.

 

The Council and Combined Authority spent around 27 years and £72M developing proposals for both Supertram and NGT. Each scheme had received Business Case Approval from the DfT before being cancelled, and Supertram was even granted powers following a Public Inquiry.

 

Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland welcomed the inquiry. He said: “Leeds has been greatly let down twice now and it must not happen again.

 

“The inquiry must look at why then Transport Secretary Alistair Darling cancelled Supertram, having approved it, even though the cost-benefit analysis was at the level that the Department for Transport said it should have been approved at.”

 

He also urged the inquiry to look at why Leeds City Council and the Combined Authority refused to consider an alternative plan in case the inspector did not approve the NGT scheme, which he described as flawed and unpopular.

 

He added: “What we also need alongside this inquiry is the right plan for a mass transit scheme for Leeds, so the £173M can now be spent properly and Leeds can finally get the first class, modern, light rail system it deserves.”

 

♦ Leeds City Council is due to consult on plans for the regeneration of the city’s South Bank area next month, including proposals to transformation Leeds Station into a major transport interchange. Senior councillors are set to approve the three month consultation this week.

 

It will put forward plans to provide more than 35,000 jobs and over 4000 homes in the area and include a focus on how best to maximise the opportunities around the redevelopment of the station for the arrival of high-speed rail.