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Day 43, Monday 28th February 2005 |
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It looks as if hopes of a legal challenge are faltering, and we haven't heard much from Bucks CC, so it's time to up the ante. Meanwhile, a leak from the council suggests a date for announcement of a contractor in the near future - and incompetence, rather than a leak, revealed a number of other interesting facts. Firstly, the cost - in December 2000 it was £32.401m, but it's now £41.567m (an astonishing price rise of over 8% pa) - the Department for Transport is funding all but £1m of this, and has made it clear that any further increase has to be paid by Bucks CC.
Secondly, the government gives as a reason for recommendation of the bypass that "This scheme is high value for money and improves transport links within a growth area." Odd that Bucks keep denying the SE growth area is anything to do with the bypass, when even the Department for Transport admit it. Thirdly, the government's assessment notes "adverse impacts on greenhouse gases, heritage of historic resources, biodiversity, water environment and landscape." These are described as non-monetised impacts, and offsetting these adverse impacts the government expects "beneficial impacts on noise, local air quality, physical fitness, journey ambience, reliability and severance." In spite of the evident lunacy (the bypass will make you fitter and improve your journey ambience), the DfT concludes that "the net effect of the non-monetised impacts is negative." We could have told them that, for free. |
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