Update on Compulsory Purchase Orders.

Following on from the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) Public Inquiry (PI) statutory and non statutory objectors posting on Thursday 18 February 2010, the situation would appear to be that the CPO PI inspector will decide upon who can speak at the PI.

He is likely to make that decision at the Pre-Inquiry meeting.

The diary for the CPO PI events at the moment reads:-

Tuesday 1st June 2010…..latest date for return of Questionnaire to Helen Wilson, Programme Officer for the CPO PI.
Some of you may have received this Questionnaire on which you are requested to state whether you will be attending the Pre-Inquiry CPO meeting and also answer other questions.
Monday 14 June 2010…..CPO Pre-Inquiry meeting to be held at the Guildhall Bath at 10.00am.
We have ascertained that ANYONE can attend the Pre-Inquiry or actual Inquiry and we encourage you to attend to show your strength of feeling about the BRT/BTP, even if you are not intending to speak or attend further meetings.
Wednesday 11 August 2010….latest date for receipt of “Proof of Evidence” regarding the CPOs by the Inspector, or a date to be fixed by him at the Pre-Inquiry.
If you wish to appear at the actual CPO Inquiry you must confirm this on the Questionnaire.
Wednesday 1 September 2010…..CPO PI meeting to be held at the Guildhall Bath at 10.00am.

We are sure that you will have noted the cuts that the Government are proposing in public expenditure this year, a cut of £683m being for the Department of Transport alone out of a total of £6.2bn.

This country is £150bn in debt and the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said today on BBC TV “The enormity of the black hole on public finance is far worse than we anticipated.”

The Budget will be held in June with a Spending Review in the autumn.

Under these conditions it would seem that B&NES Council may well not be granted the necessary finance to carry out their BRT / BTP schemes and, we think that the CPO Pre-Inquiry and PI should be postponed until a clear situation arises concerning finance.

We are sure that it would be considered to be acting irrationally to spend many thousands of pounds of public money on Inquiries with very little hope of the schemes proceeding in the near future.

If you are of the same opinion as many readers are, we urge you to write or E mail without delay, a request for the Pre-Inquiry and actual Inquiry to be postponed until the Government’s financial position is made clearer and whether any “Grant Money” is likely to be made available for the BRT / BTP schemes. Ask for your request to be forwarded to any other person or authority as necessary.

You should address your request to:

Mrs Helen Wilson BA (Hons)
Programme Officer for the Public Inquiry
32 Pennyford Close
Brockhill,
Redditch
B97 6TW
email: progofficer@aol.com

Tel/Fax: 01527 65741

Mobile: 07879 443035