When You're in a Hole, Stop Digging!
6th March, 2006
Having pointed out ENTs dubious cost comparisons using the £77m figure (see previous news below). ENT have now compounded their error by claiming the caveats that explain the £77m figure have only just been released by the City Council. In fact they have been public for 5 years.
More Misinformation from Compton Acres
27th February, 2006
In a letter to the Nottingham Evening Post, Mr Philips, a well known anti-tram campaigner and committee member of Environment not Trams claimed that 20% of tram passengers did not want extensions to the system. We have since found this to be completely untrue and the number of dissenters is actually 3%. The same figure the Chair of ENT Councillor Gordon Wheeler claimed supported the extensions a few weeks ago, we now find out the position is 100% opposite. Read Mr Philips letter and our response here (link follows).
Have you been misled?
14th February, 2006
Following a Freedom of Information Act request BACIT have discovered a significant problem with the claims about cost increases on NET Phase Two made by Cllr Gordon Wheeler, the Chair of the Compton Acres Anti-Tram Group Environment Not Trams (ENT).
The Truth About House Prices and Trams
29th May, 2004
Well the truth is that proximity to a tram route increases the value of your house above similar properties with out access to the route. This even applies to those directly fronting on the route. Estate agents in the city are already using the proximity to Line One as a key feature for selling property. Independent reports on the impact on the Croydon tram show a premium on house value near the tram. This is why no compensation for loss of house value was paid to the claimants in Croydon when the tram opened. (Our local anti-tram group only reported that no compensation was given they did not say why.) In the States a property tax has been proposed to tax businesses and landlords for the increased trade and rent they can charge to help pay for the investment in the tram routes which they are benefiting from. On a BACIT fact-finding trip to Sheffield we asked some estate agents on their views. They said the proximity to the tram is an excellent selling feature, we have no problem selling houses near the tram route, it's a positive benefit that aids value. So all the antis are doing is making a negative issue out of a positive one and costing themselves money.