Responding to the multiple crises

TO BOB WHITEHEAD

I'm forwarding to you this follow-up email to Albert Bore whom I met on Friday evening when I gatecrashed his surgery.  I waited for him to see everyone else and, then, he kindly saw me - briefly but, it was worth the visit!

I've read your excellent email as Secretary of the W Mids Climate Coalition.  I do feel that these should be our transport priorities.  I will ask if they could be discussed at our LU meeting on Tuesday to see if there is any support or even unanimity:

1. Insisting that all Metro and Sprint expansions are now halted as the urgent, easiest and most obvious response to the multiple crises and emergencies the authorities and the people are facing.  WMCA has direct responsibility for Metro and Sprint that they don't have for HS2.
2. All fares must be scrapped on buses, trains and trams within the W Mids boundary as one of many responses to the crises.
3. The stick of road pricing to work in conjunction with the carrot of FFPT for all.  Essential business users register their vehicles to be exempt from the charge that is meant to hit car commuters who must take the bus, train, tram - or bike!​
    24 month experiment on Hagley Road
   ​
4. Commuter and regional trains, with the stations must be returned on as much of the 106 Kms as possible to cut GHG emissions from road transport.
5. We must try and get the Tories to oppose Labour and LibDems who are the most enthusiastic for trams to duplicate/replace buses and trains.  SEE:​
    Edinburgh Conservative Group OPPOSES their tram...
   ​​
    Edinburgh tram costs
   ​Edinburgh City Council followed full democratic accountability with discussions, debates and votes.  Only in the early 1980s did the elected county councillors approve Metro but there was not even one elected councillor who opposed the trams, as far as I am aware - but Terry Davis MP for Hodge Hill did, up to a point and then gave up when it went on a mainline railway!

All the best

Tim

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Tim Weller <timweller1@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 3 Sept 2022 at 10:12
Subject: Thank you for seeing me yesterday evening
To: Albert Bore <albert.bore@birmingham.gov.uk>
Cc: Ian Ward <Ian.Ward@birmingham.gov.uk>, Liz Clements <liz.clements@birmingham.gov.uk>

Dear Albert - and copied to Ian and Liz for their information but, for your reply, please.

I wish to underline the points I was making or, began to make, to you.

• You remain a senior and influential member of Birmingham City Council.  What you say and do, really does have an impact.  So thank you for saying you will ask Liz Clements to give me some of her time.
• You are, I understand, the longest serving member of BCC and, for a total of eight years you were leader of BCC and, therefore, the leader of the seven W Midlands district councils.  You had the opportunity, then, to bring the other six leaders together, for you all to agree that stopping the destruction of railway lines and returning commuter and regional trains must be your top priority - and NOT Metro trams!
• You told me that for years you wanted to see the commuter and regional trains returned to the Camp Hill Line through Kings Heath, Moseley and Balsall Heath.  It therefore raises the question, for me, as to why on earth you did not insist on such a very obvious oversight being corrected.  And, now you are having to see Conservative Andy Street, instead getting the credit for the eventual re-opening of that line - I hope in this decade!
• I believe that throughout your time as a Labour councillor you have overseen and fully supported the development of Midland Metro from 1981, when Cllr Phil Bateman of W Mids County Council was one of the leading lights.  Perhaps, you were too, Sir?  Did you make any attempt to stop it, like Terry Davis did, only for it to be put on a mainline railway, instead of the commuter and regional trains?  Astonishing absurdity!
• Metro has been a disaster as railway lines continued to be lost or, used for freight only, and the Metro "bus on rails" tram took over two mainline railways.  One, to leave a worse service between Snow Hill, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury and, now the second is breaking up the UK's very last principal, mainline railway "of national strategic significance".  The most extraordinary idiocy.
  
   "of national strategic significance".pdf
  In all my 74 years of life and 54 years of them living and working in Brum or Halesowen, I have never seen greater stupidity or such growing and appalling congestion and pollution on our roads and railways (up until Covid).
• Albert, you still have the seniority and political weight in the corridors of power to have an important influence.  Please use it to, finally, bring some sane, sensible and climate championing decisions to be made.  URGENTLY!
• The elected members, like your good self, are meant to make the decisions for the officers to implement, I thought.  Or, have I got that wrong?

With best wishes and thanks