Wilford and the Tram

[David Boulton]

On 5th March 2007, Nottingham City Council approved the application to make a Transport Works Act Order which is the next stage in the NET tram project. An edited extract from the papers presented to the City Council meeting held on 5th March 2007 can be found at www.thisiswilford.org.uk/wilford_news.htm. The full, unedited document can also be found there.

Key milestones for the project are as follows (taken from www.netphasetwo.com on 6th March 2007)

• April 2007 - Transport Works Act Order (TWAO) submitted - "it will be advertised publicly and stakeholders, including businesses and residents from along the routes, will receive a formal letter of notification. The public advertisements and letter of formal notification will explain the process for people to formally comment on the scheme. The process will be a period of six weeks starting from the date of the TWAO application submission."
• April / May 2007 - TWAO Documents Available for Viewing - "For this six week period the TWAO application documents will be available to view at libraries and public offices along the NET Phase Two routes. The documents will also be available on the NET Phase Two website www.netphasetwo.com. These documents will contain details of how to formally comment on the scheme."
• Winter 2007 - Public Enquiry - "A Public Inquiry would determine independently if NET Phase Two is in the public interest for the people of Greater Nottingham and the East Midlands region. An independent inspector would listen to all interested parties over a period of several weeks. The findings and recommendations from the Public Inquiry would be reported to the Secretary of State for Transport, who would then confirm or reject the application for the TWAO."
• 2008/09 - Tendering Process - "private companies will bid for the work of building and running NET Phase Two. It could take a year to negotiate this commercial contract and get the final proposals agreed by Government."
• 2010 - Construction Work Starts
• 2013 - Trams Running

Your residents association would like to know what changes (if any) Wilford residents would like them to suggest to the TWAO process. Your residents association has established a good relationship with NET, which contributed to the decision by NET to revise the route between Coronation Avenue and Wilford Lane to run the tram on the eastern side of the former railway embankment instead of along the top of a reduced-height embankment. NET have also changed the plans for Main Road to ensure vehicle access to the Rugby pitches is maintained. We have found that NET will discuss any constructive suggestions.

Thoughts already expressed to NET by the residents association include

• Moving the tram stop by the Ferry (it's only 200 yards from the stop in the Meadows) to near Bader Road to serve the "Village" better and also the two new schools and residential development. This would require the removal of a significant portion of the embankment (for security) thus removing some of the screening that the embankment would provide.
• Replacement of the proposed 28-space car park at the junction of Coronation Avenue and Main Road with a bus turning point OR removal of the proposal altogether
• Are residents fully aware that Main Road between The Ferry and the Toll Bridge will be used as a construction site - how much heavy plant will be moving through an already congested Village?

Please post your thoughts here or email them to the Group at WilfordCG@hotmail.com

David Boulton
Secretary
Wilford Community Group

[iangoldby]

I'm fully in favour of the tram.

I also would like a stop to be provided much closed to Bader Road. I live in Hannah Crescent, so a Bader Road stop would be perfect for me. Otherwise it is an eight and a half minute walk to the Toll Bridge stop (yes, I'm sad - I timed it!), which out of a total 20 minute walk to the mainline station makes it hardly worth catching the tram at all.

I was very disappointed to read that our local councillors are not supporting the tram. They talk about improving bus services instead, but unless the toll bridge is opened up to road traffic (making Main Road a through route - the worst case scenario), a bus from Wilford into the town centre via Trent Bridge or the Clifton Flyover is never going to be quicker than walking.