Full steam ahead for busway (From Leigh Journal)

Leigh-Manchester busway is still a priority

9:00am Thursday 22nd July 2010 in News By Brian Gomm

TRANSPORT bosses are forging ahead with the Leigh-Manchester busway scheme.

But they are still awaiting funding approval for the scheme that will run from Leigh along the former railway track through to Tyldesley then join the A580 East Lancs Road at Ellenbrook.

But a GMPTE spokesman told The Journal: "Funding approval on the Leigh-Salford-Manchester Busway is currently pending and the scheme remains a high priority scheme in the AGMA Transport Development Programme. We have already carried out some advance works on the route and are continuing to prepare for the start of construction."The Leigh-Salford-Manchester Busway is intended to provide a faster public transport link between Leigh, Tyldesley, Ellenbrook, Salford and Manchester.

The scheme will provide an attractive and more reliable service on modern, high quality vehicles between Leigh via Salford to Manchester city centre, and will make it easier for passengers to interchange with trains, trams and other bus services. The project is now part of the Greater Manchester Transport Delivery Programme.

The 7km guided busway section of the route will provide a completely traffic-free route for buses meaning that they can avoid traffic congestion. Passengers will be able to travel from Leigh to the centre of Manchester in under 45 minutes.

This week notices went up at points along the route informing people of GMPTE's Compulsory Purchase Order for a number of plots of land along the busway route.

In most cases, whole properties are not required by GMPTE and Notices To Treat will apply only to small sections of land.

The first step for those with land subject to Compulsory Purchase Orders is to contact a solicitor or a chartered surveyor for assistance. The Department of Communities and Local Government also has information about the Compulsory Purchase Order procedure on its website, www.communities.gov.uk The value of the land to be acquired will be agreed by the individual landowners’ solicitors or surveyors and GMPTE’s agents. GMPTE will be responsible for meeting landowners’ reasonable and proper professional costs which arise from the Compulsory Purchase Order process.

GMPTE’s powers of compulsory purchase were granted in 2005 after extensive consultation and a public enquiry. At this time, GMPTE engaged with landowners as part of the consultation exercise and gave them the chance to make representations to the public enquiry.

For properties purchased after 2005, the existence of the Compulsory Purchase Order would have been revealed by a solicitor’s search when the property was bought.