The Birmingham Liberal Democrat group have requested the council’s allocation of funding from the Clean Air Zone, (CAZ) be called in for scrutiny by the Transport Committee after it was revealed that city centre pedestrian schemes costing £15,478 million would be prioritised over the allocation of funding for the Camp Hill Line and other transport projects, as well as the creation of a city wide Clean Air City Fund.
A statement from Liberal Democrat Group leader Cllr Jon Hunt and deputy leader Cllr Roger Harmer states: “This week’s decisions show that the Labour council has topsy turvy priorities. While car drivers are being kept away from the city centre, the measures that would enable drivers to switch to public transport are no longer a priority”.
You can read more in this report by Birmingham Live
£5.2million was due to be allocated to the Camp Hill Line, £3.4 million for the University Station and £4.2 million for the Cross City Bus Scheme, however these funds are now relegated to only happen if the CAZ makes sufficient revenue.
You can see the full report here:
The proposed Clean Air City Fund would see an annual allocation of £20,000 to each ward (£40,000 for two member wards) for use against a defined catalogue of measures to aid sustainable transport and improve air quality
The projected net revenue from the CAZ for 2020 to 2030 has been lowered from £85.7 million to £44.6 million so it is even more imperative that revenue is prioritised on improving public transport links to actually help people reduce their dependency on cars.
Moseley Liberal Democrats 