Taxpayers to pay yet more to fund road scheme to help Birmingham Airport runway extension
Date added: 25 November, 2010
24.11.2010 (Birmingham Post)
Taxpayers will be asked to stump up another £10 million towards the cost of moving a major road to allow Birmingham Airport’s runway to be extended.
The long-awaited project can only go ahead once the A45 Coventry Road has been
diverted at a cost of £32 million.
Regional transport body Centro’s chief executive , Geoff Inskip, told authority members that they would be asked to make a decision
next month whether to contribute £10 million towards the scheme.
Birmingham City Council is already paying £15 million and the airport a further
£7 million on top of the £65 million it will cost to extend the runway itself.
The 7 West Midlands councils which make up Centro own 49% of the airport’s shares.
Mr Inskip told a meeting of the Integrated Transport Authority that the runway
would bring financial benefits for the whole region.
"There’s a funding gap of about £10 million," he told members this week.
"The Integrated Transport Authority will consider a report to fill that gap at
its next meeting on December 13.
"The runway extension would provide a cross-conurbation benefit and that’s why
Centro has been asked to donate.
"The business case is very good but it’s not in front of you right now."
The runway extension will allow larger long-haul jets to lands pave the way for
air links to India, China and America.
It could be operational by as soon as 2014.
A spokesman for Centro said that building a new road would allow the space for
a proposed tram system serving the airport to be included.
"While the runway extension itself needs to be paid for by the airport the diversion
of the A45 is part of the enabling works for the project," said the spokesman.
"It also brings transport benefits in form of built-in road space for a future
rapid transit system.
"Until the rapid transit system is in place this dedicated carriageway will be
available for buses, helping to speed up journey times and reliability for passengers
and improving people’s links to new job opportunities in the area.
"Adding this extra rapid transit pathway at a future date and after the road
has been re-routed would cost considerably more so integrating it into the diversion
scheme represents far better value for money.
"Because of the transport benefits of re-routing the A45 we will asking the Integrated
Transport Authority on December 13 to approve a contribution from Centro towards
the cost of the road’s diversion."
and
Birmingham Airport receives funding for expansion plans
10th July 2010 Birmingham Airport has secured the £45 million funding it wants to extend its
runway, which would allow for bigger planes, as well as a long-haul service to
destinations in Asia and on the west coast of the US. The funding was obtained
from provided by Santander Corporate Banking and Royal Bank of Scotland. Work
is also ongoing on the merging of Birmingham Airport’s two terminals. Click here to view full story…
£32m Birmingham Airport road scheme gets city council backing
20th April 2010 Plans for a £32 million diversion of the A45 to allow the runway extension to
be built have won Birmingham City Council’s backing. Council leaders agreed to
pay half of the cost after seeking legal advice, though there had been questions
whether the council had the powers to make a £16 million contribution to Solihull
Council to get the A45 scheme off the ground. Lawyers said Birmingham could go
ahead, and felt there were other transport benefits. (Birmingham Post) Click here to view full story…
Posted: Thursday, November 25th, 2010. Filed in News about Airports.
