Plans to bring trolleybuses back to the streets of Leeds have been rejected by Government, sparking frustration among West Yorkshire’s transport commentators.

 

The Secretary of State decided not to give the go ahead for the city’s proposed £250M scheme following a planning inspector’s recommendation.

 

The inspector’s report concluded that a compelling case in the public interest had not been made for granting the powers required to implement the project, which is known as the Leeds New Generation Transport (NGT) scheme. 

 

West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee chair Keith Wakefield described the decision as “a frustrating reminder that despite the Government’s emphasis on devolution, we still find ourselves subject to decisions made remotely in Whitehall on local matters”.

 

Leeds Chamber of Commerce president Gerald Jennings said: “It is disappointing that after a further decade in the planning Leeds continues to remain the only major UK city without any kind of mass transit system.”

 

The planning inspector accepted that there is a strong need to improve public transport in Leeds to attract a modal shift including along the NGT scheme corridor, much of which is congested during peak times. 

 

But he was not convinced that the proposed project would be a cost effective way of meeting that need, adding that it would likely have no impact on reducing congestion and would harm the built and natural environment.

 

Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake said: “Leeds has been let down by successive Governments in Whitehall on transport, first Supertram and now with NGT. This has set public transport in the city back many years.

 

“Leeds and the wider City Region needs and deserves a 21st Century transport network, otherwise the whole Northern Powerhouse risks missing out on billions of pounds of economic growth and thousands of good jobs for now and generations to come,” added chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Roger Marsh.

 

Department for Transport said its £173.5M contribution towards the NGT project – which if built would have followed a 15km north-south route through the city centre – is to be earmarked for use on other public transport schemes in Leeds.

 

“I’m pleased Leeds will still be allocated the funding and look forward to working with our partners to bring forward the public transport improvements Leeds so desperately needs as quickly as possible,” said Judith Blake.

 

But Combined Authority chair Peter Box said: “We need to see Ministers committing further funding to develop key alternatives and help us make up for the lost time and resources and we need devolution so these decisions can be taken locally.

 

“We need to be able to press ahead with the development of a metro-style system with integrated rail, tram train and light rail, bus, cycling and walking networks designed to meet local people’s needs and underpin the economic growth and job creation across the City Region.”