Transport chiefs aim to buy land for Metro

Transport chiefs in the West Midlands want to plough ahead with negotiations to spend £12 million of taxpayers' money on buying up land to extend the Midland Metro – even though they are £253 million short of starting to build it.

A Transport and Works Act Order (TWA) granting permission for compulsory purchase orders to build the extension is due to expire in 2010 but can be lengthened if work gets under way. Bosses fear they will lose their right to block any planning applications for buildings next to the Metro tracks if they allow it to collapse.

But the project still needs to raise £253 million and no work on installing the tram lines can start until it is found.

A park-and-ride car park could be built in the Black Country so planning permission is not lost while efforts are made to plug the funding black hole.

Councillors on transport authority Centro's panel are being asked to vote on taking action on Monday.

The estimated £12 million cost of permanently acquiring the land for the extension would be funded by £7 million from local councils and £5 million from Centro.

Another option is to spend £150,000 extending the powers for another five years.

Almost £2 million is to be invested on acquiring land for the 62-space car park at Dudley Port train station and which Centro hopes will form a crucial part of the extension of the tram lines between Wednesbury and Brierley Hill.

If the Metro extension does not go ahead the park- and-ride can be used for passengers using ordinary trains leaving from Dudley Port.

In a report to Centro's panel, chief executive Geoff Inskip said the park-and- ride was a "material operation" to preserve the TWA planning powers for the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension.

He said: "Allowing the planning and land acquisition powers to lapse would carry a reputational risk for Centro, which has already allowed Midland Metro Act powers to lapse on Wednesbury and Brierley Hill in the 1990s."