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Gridlock over transport cash stalls region’s recovery hopes
The Leeds trolleybus scheme is still awaiting government approval
YORKSHIRE’S creaking transport network is damaging the region’s economy and the Government must reverse years of chronic under-investment if business is to drive the recovery from recession.
The stark warning from business leaders comes after new research revealed more than a third of the region’s firms see transport as an economic disadvantage.
A KPMG report – which surveyed 80 Yorkshire companies with a turnover of £5m or more – found that fewer than one in ten would describe transport as an asset.
The findings claim Yorkshire would “stand to gain hugely” from improved connectivity between the region’s economic centres, ports and airports as well as national and international hubs.
And business leaders told the Yorkshire Post investment was “essential” if the private sector is to lead recovery from recession.
Mark Goldstone, head of business representation and policy at the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Investment in Yorkshire’s transport system is essential in order to remain competitive and support private sector growth. The Chamber has lobbied long and hard for an integrated transport network across the Leeds City Region.
“The electrification of the Transpennine line was welcomed by business, but if we are to truly rebalance the economy and create a northern economic powerhouse to rival the South-East then investment in the Northern Hub is essential.”
The Yorkshire Post Give us a Fair Deal campaign is lobbying for a fairer distribution of funding from Whitehall and transport chiefs have said projects such as the Northern Hub – a £560m rail investment programme that would bring £4.2bn of economic benefits and up to 30,000 jobs – would transform the region’s economy.
So far Westminster has funded two parts of the programme – the electrification of the Trans-Pennine route and Ordsall Chord, which will connect Manchester’s Piccadilly and Victoria stations which will have knock-on benefits for Yorkshire services – but there is yet to be a commitment to completing the scheme.
There are also fears that the commitment to the £32bn high speed rail network could distract the Government from investment in the existing infrastructure, with projects such as Leeds trolleybus still awaiting approval from the Department for Transport (DfT).
Kieran Preston, Director General at Metro, the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, said: “We know that by providing companies with access to more potential employees and wider markets, good transport links underpin business development and encourage investment.
“Unfortunately the results of this survey reflect a legacy of underspending on transport in our region by successive governments but hopefully we can build upon recently-secured projects such as new stations at Kirkstall Forge, Apperley Bridge and Low Moor and the Leeds Station Southern Entrance.
“What we need to see now is DfT and Treasury support for further improvements in our rail network and also the go-ahead for the first stage of the New Generation Trolleybus network to stem the forecast rise in congestion and delays in and around Leeds.”
The KPMG’s Yorkshire Business Instinct survey revealed 27 per cent of businesses cited transport as a regional weak point, with just nine per cent believing it was a positive attribute.
Yorkshire’s external links fared better, with more business leaders considering them a positive for the region than the proportion who said it was a negative feature of doing business in Yorkshire.
Nearly one in three named the region’s external transport links as a positive business attribute, but a significant minority – more than one in five – claimed t that it is one of the region’s negative aspects from a business perspective.
The survey also found that 47 per cent said the quality of life in the region was an asset to doing business in Yorkshire.
Richard Threlfall, KPMG partner and Leeds based UK head of Infrastructure, Building and Construction said: “What is conclusive about our research is that it provides further evidence that transport is an issue close to the hearts of business leaders in Yorkshire.”
Business leaders hail fund plan: Section 1, Page 7. Section 1, Comment: Page 16.
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Comments
There are 7 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Paul Hu
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 04:00 PMWhilst this image is fair in parts it is not entirely true. I hear that part of the reason why money is being crowded out of this issue is the fact that other sectors of the economy - and in that the Municipal Sector and Local Government in particular - is calling for investments in some areas which are totally farcical and over-costed and can be built by other means. For example the Allerton Incineration programme for North Yorks and York City Councils could cost the area less than a quarter if the wastes were transported to Mytum and Selby in Sherburn-in-Elmet for their treatment system to make Ethanol. In addition the Leeds incineration programme could equally be so transferred to the same facility -- it is less than 20 miles away! That would save over £1000 Million of direct Council Tax Payers money at a stroke as well as provide a release for the money that would have been spent therein for the Transportation works you cite. Think on it and put this into perspective. Doesn't anyone hear these issues being stated in as plain a statement as these?
Cosmo
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 08:41 PMThe Leeds outer ring road ( A6120 ) from Pudsey to Garforth is worthy of any 3rd world country. 3 lanes, roundabouts, single lanes and dual carrigeways. I challenge anyone to drive this route and keep to any type of shedule. If this was a human being it would have died of blocked arteries decades ago.
b811wt1
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 04:58 PMYorkshire always seems to be the looser when it comes to the Goverment spending money ,our money, on transport infra structure. Compared with Scotland, with a similar population, our roads are well below standard. Railways? the opening of the Airdrie to Bathgate line has now provided a fourth line between Edinburgh and Glasgow. A friend of mine asked me if a busy local road , along which we were walking, was an A-class road i said that it was an ordinary B-class one. He said that if it were in Scotland it would be am A class road by virtue of the amount of traffic on it. Enough said?
Chris R
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 12:48 PMPopulation of Leeds 443,247 Population of Hull 263,900 I think Leeds has priority.
kingsnewclothes
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 12:45 PMCompare and contrast. ......... HS2 £ 36 billion cost and 40,000 jobs , Northern Hub ( if this article is correct ) £ 560 million and 30,000 jobs ....... What bit of that is not a no brainer ? ................... The biggest supporters of HS2 are those businesses that expect to make money out of it , read Deutsche Bahn, Siemens, Barhale, Arup, Mott MacDonald etc ..................................... and Mule let me ask you how many businesses in Hull at the moment might relocate to Leeds in the future ? The story is the same with Manchester vs Liverpool , Birmingham vs Coventry and probably Nottingham vs Leicester.
Mule
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 12:10 PMWhile I agree Leeds should have a rapid transit system, the city that always gets left behind is the regions major port Kingston Upon Hull, the most heavily bombed city after London, Kingston upon Hull also needs a rapid transit system and better rail connections in order to fully recover.
Chris R
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 09:00 AMLooks like the City Of Leeds will be stood cold an isolated if this Government don't stop messing about with funding. Leeds needs a rapid transit system more than any other City in the UK, are we going to be over looked again. A tram or monorail would have been a much better solution, the trolly bus is okay, but nothing to get excited about, but i fear Leeds, the capital of the region will be left out in the cold once again..
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