Council prepares for tram fight

9:20am Monday 29th January 2007

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EALING Council is gearing itself up for a legal battle with Transport for London over the massively unpopular West London Tram scheme.

Officers at the town hall are preparing their case ready for a public inquiry, expected to be held some time in the next 18 months.

Lawyers on both sides will lay out the arguments for and against, and the cost is set to run into the hundreds of thousands.

Tram spokesman for Ealing Cllr Wolodymyr Barczuk said TfL were "holding their cards very close to their chest".

"I suspect they are worried," he said. "They have got themselves into a hole and they are carrying on digging. It is very unfortunate."

The inquiry will be headed up by an independent inspector, who will adjudicate the merits of both arguments.

Cllr Barczuk added even if TfL is not stopped at the public enquiry, it still has to find the cash for the billion pound scheme.

He said: "We do not think they have the money they need. Ken Livingstone is pushing ahead with a project he cannot afford."

At a meeting on Wednesday, the leaders of all three boroughs affected by the proposed billion-pound scheme came together to re-state their opposition to the plans.

"What people want from us is an agreement that the three councils are working together," said Cllr Barczuk. "Council officers are working on pulling together views and arguments to oppose the tram and there will be something more formal to put out as a report soon."

Cllr Barczuk added the council would "be concerned" if they lost the public enquiry, as defeating the tram was the most important of their manifesto pledges when they stormed to power last May.

"We don't even want to contemplate that," he said.