Wait For Ricoh Train Station Decision
Last updated : 14 October 2010 By Covsupport News Service
It is now a matter of waiting to see if the Ricoh Arena in Coventry will finally get the train station it has been campaigning for.
Yesterday, the City's three MP's and Council Leader plus long standing Coventry City supporter John Mutton and Deputy George Duggins met Transport Minister Teresa Villiers and put over the case as to why the £14m funding for the first phase of the NUCKLE (Nuneaton, Coventry, Kenilworth & Leamington) scheme should not be included in the government cuts which are expected to be around the £80bn mark.
Speaking to the CT, MP Bob Answorth said:
"She was not able to tell us anything before the spending review next week, and we don't know how quickly after that she will be able to indicate whether it's a goer. "Some schemes will be given the green light, depending on their budget, soon afterwards. Others will get a partial green light.
"What made us angry was that Department for Transport officials were still being coy about the business case.
"They were saying they haven't evaluated the business case or made progress on it since March, because there's been a new government and new finances.
"We had hoped to be in a position where at least officials by now were satisfied with the business case - we have been meeting ministers for years now."
Coventry City Council Deputy Leader George Duggins also said to the paper about the meeting: "She was impressed with the campaign and the scheme, but it would be wrong to say to anybody there's going to be an early resolution to this."
