ILKESTON STATION

WOT NO ILKESTON STATION?

Last night at the Full Council meeting I proposed a Motion to Erewash Borough Council that they confirm their support for a new Ilkeston Station and asking them to commit "sufficient" funds to the project. As expected the Tories couldn't swallow the idea of allocating funds so they deleted the funding bit of the Motion. But they at least continue to pay lip service to the idea of a new Station at Ilkeston. Despite it being a component of their Economic Development Plan and their Corporate Plan not one pound is in the Budget for the Station. To top it all the Tories seemed to be utterly ignorant of the details of the Station. Cllr Smith under whose "Portfolio" the project comes stated that the Station would cost £7 million. In a recent report to Derbyshire County Council their Officers estimated £4.5 to £5 million.

This is such a key component of the regeneration of Ilkeston that it is essential that progress is made now. Erewash are sleep walking regarding the Station they haven't a clue on either the costs, design or even the site. I believe much more pressure needs to be put on both Derbyshire and Erewash Council's to get tangible proposals in place.

The Erewash Tories will have to do more than issue Press Releases supporting the Station. Eventually public pressure will force them into a U-turn on funding. They can either come to that conclusion sooner or later, but they'll get there in the end.