Department of Transport

Date set for public inquiry into Leeds Supertram extension
_______________________________________________________________

date 23 December 1996
source Department of Transport
type Press release

note 407

The public inquiry into the proposals by the West Yorkshire Passenger
Transport Executive (WYPTE) and Leeds City Council (the Council) to
extend the Leeds Supertram light rail public transport system from
Leeds City Centre northwards through Headingley to Bodington and
eastwards to Seacroft, will begin on Tuesday 18 March 1997 at 10.00
am, John Watts, Minister for Local Transport, announced today.

The inquiry will be conducted by Sir Norman King KBE, Planning
Inspector, at Leeds Town Hall, The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 3AD. Sir
Norman will make a report to the Secretary of State on whether or not
the order should be made. The inquiry is expected to last between
four and six weeks.

Sir Norman has decided that a pre-inquiry meeting, principally to
discuss the procedural arrangements for the inquiry, will also be
held at Leeds Town Hall on Tuesday 4 February 1997 beginning at
10.00am.

The application for the order under section 1 of the Transport and
Works Act 1992 in respect of these proposals was submitted by WYPTE
and the Council on 4 July this year.

The Secretary of State for Transport will consider the Inspector's
report and is expected to make his decision by Spring 1998.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Part I of the Transport and Works Act 1992, which came into force
in January 1993, established a new system for considering and
approving railway, tramway and other development schemes that had
previously been subject to Parliamentary private Bill procedure.
These procedures mean that such schemes can be authorised by
Ministerial order instead of by a private Act of Parliament.

2. The proposed extension to the Leeds Supertram scheme was subject
of an application for an order under the Transport and Works Act 1992
by Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Passenger Transport
Executive on 4 July 1996.

3. The proposed extension consists of a 16.2km twin track tram
system and associated station stops. The extension will commence from
a Park and Ride site at Bodington beyond the Outer Ring Road in north
west Leeds and run through Headingley to the City Centre. It will
continue east from the City Centre via Harehills, Fforde Grene and
Seacroft to a Park and Ride site outside the Outer Ring Road at
Grimes Dyke. The extension will run primarily within the boundaries
of existing highways.

4. The extension includes streetworks along and adjacent to the
route, including the placing of equipment in streets, and the
permanent and temporary stopping up of specified streets. The cost
of the proposals is estimated at #165 million. If the extension were
to be approved, funding would be sought from several sources,
including contributions from the private sector. If the Secretary of
State gives his approval, the construction of the extension would
take about five years.

5. In the City Centre, the extension will connect in two places with
the South Leeds line to form a loop and allow travel between north,
east and south Leeds. The South Leeds Line received Royal Assent in
1993.

6. The procedure for inquiries are set out in the Transport and
Works (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 1992 (S.I. 1992 No. 2817). The
Rules provide a time table for the pre-inquiry stages and require
those who wish to present oral evidence to the inquiry to make
available details of their evidence to other parties to the inquiry
before it opens.

7. The inquiry is to be held at Leeds Town Hall, The Headrow, Leeds,
LS1 3AD and will begin on Tuesday 18 March 1997 at 10.00am. The
pre-inquiry meeting will also be held at Leeds Town Hall on Tuesday 4
February 1997 at 10.00 am. The Department will inform the
applicants, statutory objectors (those whose land or rights in land
would be compulsorily acquired) and those other objectors who have
advised the Department that they wish to appear at the inquiry, of
these arrangements.

8. The purpose of a pre-inquiry meeting is principally to discuss
the practical arrangements for the inquiry, to set an inquiry
programme and to clarify the scope of the inquiry. This is not an
occasion to discuss the merits of the proposals in question.

9. It is likely that some, if not all, of the listed building and
conservation consents applied for by Leeds City Council in
association with the TWA application will be referred to a Public
Inquiry. Such an Inquiry will probably be held concurrently with
that into the TWA application. The Government Office for Yorkshire
and the Humber, who are considering these consents, will announce
their decision early in the New Year.

10. Details of the proposed Leeds Supertram extension can be
obtained from Leeds Supertram, Metro, 40-50 Wellington Street, Leeds,
LS1 2DE or their Parliamentary Agents, Messrs Sherwood & Co, 35 Great
Peter Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3LR.


# = pounds sterling

Railhub Archive ::: 1996-12-23 DoT-001