Nottinghamshire CC has formally withdrawn from Nottingham’s tram network extension.
The Tory-run council voted last week to pull its £28m commitment to phase two of Nottingham Express Transit, which will be part-funded by the workplace parking levy, when introduced in 2012.
Cllr Richard Jackson, cabinet member for transport and highways, said: ‘I am very pleased with this because I was not prepared to sign off a blank cheque for this project with public money during the worst recession since the Second World War.
‘I feel there are much more cost-effective ways of improving public transport for all county residents, which we will now be able to focus on.’
He added that the WPL would worsen the economic crisis in Nottinghamshire and ‘turn the county into a car park for the city’.
But Cllr Graham Chapman, deputy leader of Nottingham City Council, said: ‘The disadvantage from the county council’s point of view is that it won’t have any say over what goes on with the tram.
‘Councillors won’t be in a position to represent their businesses and residents – and that’s a big disadvantage for them.’
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