6 Vernon Avenue

Wilford

Nottingham

NG11 7AE

 

4th June 2007

 

The Right Honourable Douglas Alexander MP

Secretary of State for Transport

The TWA Orders Unit

Department for Transport

Zone 9/09 Southside

105 Victoria Street

London

SW1E 6DT

 

 

Dear Secretary of State

 

Nottingham Express Transit (NET) Tram Project – Clifton-via-Wilford Route

 

Wilford Community Group is the tenants and residents association for Wilford, Nottingham and is recognised as such by Nottingham City Council under whose terms the Group was founded in 2002. Officers and committee members are elected at an Annual General Meeting held each July. Details of the Group can be found at www.thisiswilford.org.uk/community_group.htm.

 

In the context of the Nottingham Express Transit project, the Group’s constitutional aims include:

 

The Group has conducted a number of consultations with Wilford residents and the contents of this letter are based on the majority of the views made known to the Group.

 

The Group has also had a number of meetings with NET staff to express its concerns, some of which have been addressed but the remainder are described below.

 

The Route

Although the proposed route is named “Clifton via Wilford” it is perceived by residents as being a route using Wilford as a convenient through route to Clifton. A number of residents have stated that the alternative route (CQD - “Clifton via Queens Drive”) would serve the industrial and business units and the park-and-ride site of Queens Drive.

 

NET has explained that the cost-to-benefit ratio calculation shows a negative result, due to the costs of bridging the River Trent and the higher length of on-street running. However, we are not aware of any independent scrutiny of NET’s figures, particularly in the area of expected patronage from Wilford, given that three of the four stops are bordered by homes on one side only. We would like to see the figures for both routes reappraised independently before a decision is made on the currently-proposed route.

 

Wilford Toll Bridge (Grade II Listed)

It has been suggested by some residents that instead of using the grade II listed Wilford Toll Bridge to cross the River Trent, an alternative route requiring the construction of a new bridge would remove the impact on this historic bridge and would also allow the proposed “Wilford Village” tram stop to be moved closer to the Nottingham Emmanuel School. This would also remove the visual impact on the Wilford Village Conservation Area to which the route passes close by.

 

According to their Application for Listed Building Consent for the Toll Bridge (TWAO Section A12, Reference LBC2), NET’s reasons for rejecting the option of a new bridge appear to be limited to “adverse impacts on the Townscape of the Victoria Embankment” and do not include reasons of cost or impact on the river flow.

 

Wilford Community Group does not agree with this justification for two reasons. Firstly, other developments proposed by Nottingham City Council for the Victoria Embankment (the “ozone” project, for example) will have a much greater impact on the area than the construction of a new bridge.

 

Secondly, there are no residential dwellings near to the likely site of a potential new bridge but there are a number of homes and a primary school close to the current proposed route and we feel that the current route across the Toll Bridge and then along Main Road and Coronation Avenue will have a much larger adverse impact on the landscape of Wilford and its residents and children.

 

NET’s application also claims that the tram route across the bridge will “preserve and enhance the historic role of the bridge as a key crossing point of the Trent” – this a tenuous and unsubstantiated claim. Doing nothing will preserve the historic role of the bridge and we fail to see how a 21st century transport project will enhance the historic role that the bridge has carried out successfully since the late 19th century. We also fail to see how the proposals will “re-establish the bridge as a significant crossing point on the Trent” – given its location, it is a “significant crossing point” already, well-used by pedestrians, cyclists, runners and walkers.

 

The Stops

The “Alternative Stop” chapter describes a stop opposite St Patrick’s School on Coronation Avenue as an alternative stop. This option has never been made known to the residents of Wilford or to Wilford Community Group, but the Group feels that this would be such an unpopular option that Wilford residents would not accept it. In a meeting held with NET on 25th May 2007, Wilford Community Group was assured that “it will not happen” – we would like to see this option removed formally from the plans.

 

Using Wilford as a Construction Site

NET proposes to use the section of Main Road between the Ferry Inn in the Wilford Village Conservation Area and the Toll Bridge as a construction site. No further plans on how heavy plan and machinery will be brought to the site have been published, but Wilford Community Group objects to this proposal on safety grounds.

 

Firstly, Main Road is not suitable for heavy plant – at places it is narrow and being a residential area, there are often vehicles parked on either side of the road, reducing the width further.

 

Secondly, there are three schools (South Wilford Primary, St. Patrick’s Primary and the Nottingham Emmanuel Secondary) on or near the route. In addition there is a playgroup in operation just off Main Road. Several hundred children walk along this route and to bring construction plant along Main Road will present a significant safety risk to these children. Furthermore, a large number of students of the Nottingham Emmanuel School use the Toll Bridge, Main Road and Coronation Avenue as their walking route to school, either from The Meadows or from bus stops bringing them to school from other areas of the City of Nottingham.

 

We would like to see alternative provision made for the construction site and suggest an area of Victoria Embankment adjacent to the Toll Bridge. NET has informed us that the rebuilding of the bridge will take place early in the project. Materials and plant could be transported across the bridge before the rails are laid. This would remove the need to use Wilford’s narrow Main Road for access to the site, as this would then be from the wider dual carriageway Queens Drive.

 

Nottingham Moderns Rugby Club (NMRC)

NMRC is a major contributor to community life in Wilford, providing facilities for four rugby union teams, approximately seven youth football teams as well as rugby league and American football teams. In addition, the local archery club holds its sessions there. Once a year, the Rotary Club holds its annual community charity bonfire and fireworks event that attracts crowds of over 5,000. Adequate, uninterrupted access, for large HGV vehicles, fairground rides, event equipment, but more importantly fire appliances and ambulances, will be required to meet health & safety requirements. NET has made no provision in the current proposals to allow for adequate, uninterrupted access. The current access point will now be restricted by the adjacent tram track.

 

We are extremely concerned that the viability of NMRC will be placed in jeopardy due to the lack of adequate parking provision for players, officials and visiting team buses. The adjacent Ferry Inn does not allow the use of its car park by visitors to the club.

 

NMRC is run entirely by volunteers and is a local community asset that must be preserved. Should the club suffer a reduction in membership and visitors to due the lack of access to the ground that the tram scheme might cause, the local community will lose a facility that makes a significant contribution to the health benefits of young people and to social cohesion; this in a time when local playing fields have been converted to residential developments by the City Council and facilities for the young are few.

 

Proposed Off Street Parking Provision

NET proposes to construct off street parking at the junction of Main Road and Coronation Avenue. This purports to compensate the Nottingham Moderns Rugby Club for the loss of parking on Main Road on match days and when charity events such as the Rotary Club Bonfire and Fireworks Display. The number of spaces proposed is totally inadequate for the Rugby Club. In addition, the area is used when events take place on the Victoria Embankment, such as the three-day Riverside Festival and the annual Robin Hood Marathon (and this will be exacerbated by the fact that Nottingham City Council has made no provision for parking in its “ozone” development plans).

 

Wilford Community Group is concerned that the car park will become a free park-and-ride facility for commuters and this will overflow onto the surrounding streets. NET has suggested that the car park could be restricted to “leisure” users only (by limiting parking to, say, three hours), but this is not feasible for a number of reasons. Firstly, “leisure” users will not restrict their leisure time to three hours – this definition includes anglers and walkers, as well as those visitors to Nottingham Moderns Rugby Club and Victoria Embankment.

 

Secondly, it is unlikely that the parking restrictions will be enforced – Wilford has parking restrictions in place outside the Post Office, just off one of the main commuter routes into Nottingham and these are not policed, so it is unlikely that restrictions further into the Village will be either.

 

The logical extension of the problem, then, is one that Wilford residents who have approached the Group unanimously oppose, being the introduction of a residents’ permit scheme. In addition to being universally opposed, this is another scheme that is unlikely to be policed effectively.

 

 

Conclusion

Wilford Community Group is of the opinion that there is such significant number of unresolved issues with this scheme that a public enquiry is essential to be able to challenge Nottingham Express Transit on their plans.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

David Boulton

Secretary

Wilford Community Group