Tories Transport Incompetence Costs Essex Taxpayers Millions (Epping Forest Liberal Democrats)

Epping Forest Liberal Democrats <info@eflibdems.org.uk>

Tories Transport Incompetence Costs Essex Taxpayers Millions

March 17, 2006 8:59 PM

Transport plans prepared by the Conservatives at Essex County Council are the least likely to attract government funding than every other county council in the country bar one. Details obtained by the Liberal Democrats have revealed that Essex County Council ranks almost at the bottom of the government's list of transport investment per local authority over the last eight years.

The government has spent £135 per person on transport schemes in Essex, compared with £197 per person in Suffolk, £224 per person in Norfolk and £176 per person in Kent.

Shropshire County Council tops the list with a massive £358 per person spend.

Cllr Keith Francis, Liberal Democrats spokesman for highways and transportation said: "These figures are a disgrace. We have consistently said that transport proposals put forward by Essex County Council do not meet the needs of the county, so it is hardly surprising that the government is reluctant to fund them. Only recently, the county's local transport plan had to be changed after a government department found that it was too road centric and failed to provide a sustainable public transport system. Ironically, it was also judged to be unrealistic over funding.

"The Conservatives have constantly complained that lack of government funding is the reason for the poor state of roads and public transport in Essex. That is clearly not the case as these figures show that there is plenty of money available. If the money doesn't come from central government, then Essex taxpayers will have to cough up the cash or do without a modern and efficient transport system. It's about time the Conservatives concentrated their effort on securing the best possible funding deals for Essex instead of furthering their own misguided political agenda," Cllr Francis added.