Region plans £1bn kitty for key transport schemes

The money would largely be raised by the five councils in the area – Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale.

Ian Greenwood, Bradford Council’s Labour leader and chairman of the Association of West Yorkshire Authorities (AWYA), said the plans were still at an early stage but councils had to look at ways to improve infrastructure when money was unlikely to come from the Government for several years.

He said: “Infrastructure needs will have to be met and the reality is we are not going to have a national solution. So we have to look at a local solution instead.”

The initial focus is on how and whether the money can be raised, with plans for specific projects further away. But Coun Greenwood did mention Shipley eastern bypass and modernising the route to Leeds Bradford Airport as examples of the kind of project that might come under consideration.

However, Bradford’s Tory group leader warned that smaller, local schemes might suffer from money being redirected to the regional fund. Coun Glen Miller also expressed concern that plans were being drawn up “behind closed doors” by an unaccountable group of council leaders.

“I have a great deal of concern there seems to be deals being done behind closed doors,” he said.

“We do have to think of things regionally but there has to be transparency. Accountability, openness and transparency – they are the three key words and Bradford Council hasn’t debated any of this.”

Coun Miller also feared some bus routes, particularly in more rural areas, would be sacrificed to raise money for the regional fund.

Documents drawn up for the AWYA show the level of impact a £1 billion fund could have – equating it to 33km of light rail network, a 60km network of high quality bus rapid transit, or 43km of new roads.

The funding and spending on infrastructure would also have the potential to create 20,000 jobs.

A total of £850m would be contributed locally, with the remainder ideally coming from the Department for Transport’s major scheme funding from 2015.

It is understood funding options include the Integrated Transport Authority levy, top slicing of the Local Transport Plan monies, the community infrastructure levy, localised business rates plus some funding from external sources.