KEN Livingstone's decision over whether to proceed with a West London Tram scheme, that campaigners believe could result in an increase in rat-running and congestion on Chiswick's roads has been postponed for a year, it was announced this week.

The Mayor of London had been scheduled to rule on the scheme in October 2003, but will now make his decision in January 2004 - bringing hope to campaigners, who now believe the postponement could mean a greater chance that the scheme will not involve road closures.

Mr Livingstone's Transport for London held detailed discussions with Ealing residents' groups last week about ways of avoiding closure of the Uxbridge Road in Ealing town centre if the tram goes ahead - with TfL agreeing to investigate alternatives to closure in more detail and report back to residents in September.

Campaigning group, Save Ealing's Streets welcomed the announcement as encouraging'':

Jane Ashley of Save Ealing's Streets said:

We had a constructive discussion with Transport for London about the Ealing pinchpoint and looked at a series of options from narrower trams to routing the tram away from the Uxbridge Road. Transport for London seemed genuinely interested in identifying a way of avoiding road closure and displacement of traffic in Ealing. I am hopeful that they will come up with detailed plans to achieve this in the autumn . The fact that Transport for London seem to be taking this issue seriously at last is a tribute to the hard work many residents have put into the campaign against road closures.

However, Transport for London must now address the other pinchpoints urgently. I urge everyone to support the SOS postcard campaign to make clear to Ken Livingstone that residents do not want road closures at any of the pinchpoints along the route.''

Transport for London have also said that they will consider Save Ealing Streets' claim that they have made a massive error in the costing of the scheme.

In March, it was revealed that the estimated cost of the tram had more than doubled from £200 million to £425 million, and that it could be as high as £564 million. Now, after questioning by SES, TfL has admitted that the £564 million figure should have been £641 million.

Jane Ashley of SES has asked TfL to consider the new figure at its next board meeting on May 28.

The TfL Board must reconsider the paper on the tram as a matter of urgency. It is incredible that a £77 million error was not spotted. Had Board members known the true figure they might have been less willing to see the project proceed to the next phase.''

Board members expressed concern about the cost of the project in March. SES is also concerned about delays in the traffic modelling data which will not be available until late August or September. The model will show how much traffic on residential roads would be expected to increase as a result of the closure of the Uxbridge. The delay in making the data available means that local consultation groups will not be able to assess the details of TfL's proposals until their final meeting in September.

May 30, 2003 12:00