The capital costs of the Borders railway, which are between £235m to £295m, are to be funded by an aptly named "non-profit distributing vehicle" (NPD). This apparently means that the cash will be borrowed from the financial markets. It will be repaid by annual charges met from the budgets of the national agency Transport Scotland, and with contributions from councils.
Now all this sounds very simple but it is potentially a huge financial hole for Scottish Borders Council. With funding apparently capped at £30 million it is potentially good news for the Scottish Borders Council but the risk to tax payers is huge. The fact remains that the forecasts of passenger numbers are very superficial, with a whole lot of assumptions that will make operating profits very unlikely. Given the continually rising capital costs of the project then the whole scheme could become a millstone around everyone's neck. How many of these NPD's have been tried on projects like this?
While the Borders party is dedicated to every aspect of Border's life there's no escaping the fact that the Waverley Line is skewing the thinking of the council and many other organizations. Our continued opposition to it must remain as a core policy.
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Standing up for the Scottish Borders
About Us
The Borders Party is the only party dedicated solely to the well-being of the Scottish Borders and its people. We have evolved out of a combination of campaign groups, business people, community councillors and many others who do not feel that the region's best interests are currently best represented.
The Local Plan which proposes massive changes to the Borders has been drawn up without meaningful consultation. Against this background we successfully contested the local elections in May 2007 and two councillors from the Borders Party were elected.
We are not affiliated to any political party as we believe that national politics have no place in local government. Our members come from all walks of life across the Borders.
The Local Plan which proposes massive changes to the Borders has been drawn up without meaningful consultation. Against this background we successfully contested the local elections in May 2007 and two councillors from the Borders Party were elected.
We are not affiliated to any political party as we believe that national politics have no place in local government. Our members come from all walks of life across the Borders.
The views expressed on this blog are not official Border Party Policy. They are the opinions of individuals, which are posted for the stimulation of discussion and the exchange of views.
3 comments:
What a load of bollocks some narrow minded persons of the infantile & fledgiling SBP talk with regard to their opposition to the long overdue reopening of the potentially busiest part of the hformer Waverley main line closed short sightedly in 1969.
Take a trip (BY RAIL) to S.Wales and see how busy and appreciated by the people the many reopened Welsh Valley railway lines are.
The 40 mile Barnstaple to Exeter line carried 301,000 passengers in 2007 and with a smaller population/catchment than the planned Edin/Gala line.
Get real SBP!
Ah, the voice of anonimity, so tough and so eloquent. Let's put to one side the fact that you think swearing makes your point more forcibly shall we and try and concentrate on what's really happening?
I think railways are great and i use the train frequently but I think we have to be realistic about the economics of this situation. Back in 2000 the cost of the borders railway project was estimated to be £73 million. Since that time costs have continued to rocket and the viability of the line has become ever more questionable. In 2003 when David Hume on behalf of Scottish Borders Council signed the promoters document for the project costs had risen to £129 million. Costs that they themselves stated as being “robustly assessed.” Costs have continued to rise to the point where the project is now expected to cost somewhere between £235 and £295 million.
The 2003 submission to the Scottish parliament says “The Waverley Railway is the strategic key to unlocking the long-term economic potential of the South East of Scotland, by providing effective access to the buoyant Edinburgh labour market and assisting Edinburgh to manage its demand for housing by spreading commuter pressure southwards.” The latter part of this statement is what this is all about. The railway ‘allows’ for new housing to be justified, it’s that simple.
this untried funding method will put a millstone around our collective necks and no amount of fudging the forecasts will make this project any more viable.
Pity that we don't know where Annonymous lives. When I read the local press, Southern Reporter and Border Telegraph, there are often a few letters in favour of the rail project but usually written by people from outwith the Borders.
Understandably, they think this is a transport issue. Often, they are rail enthousiasts and they cannot understand why anyone would oppose a new railway. Some folk are amazed that people would reject inward investment to the region where they live.
But this isn't about trains, it's about houses. The rail project exists to give 'greenwash' to Edinburgh's plans to export commuters to the northern part of the Borders region.
Have a look at the minutes of the endless committees where the Scottish Parliament examined Scottish Borders Council's readiness to build thousands of houses in the 'railway catchement area' in the central Tweed Valley. The focus is on the preparations made by SBC to push through housing plans.
Come and look at the Borders and see what they are planning to do. Galashiels is already a complete mess with the centre being ripped out to provide roads and roundabouts. There just is not enough room in Gala's narrow valley for the infrastructure as hundreds of new houses are approved. Darnick, Melrose, Clovenfords, Innerliethen. Newtown St.Boswells to be trebled in size from a village of 1200 souls to a town comparaqble with Jedburgh and Eyemouth.
But what of Jedburgh and Eyemouth? And Hawick and Kelso and the many other communities in the Borders which just happen to lie outside the favoured commuter land in the north of the region? Where is the investment?
There isn't any and it appears that, while one small area is overdeveloped, much of the region is to be left to wither and die.
I'm certainly not anti-railway but this is about houses, about skewed investment to favour Edinburgh and about the ruination of the Scottish Borders. And I do confess to being against that.
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