A CONTROVERSIAL congestion saving by-pass has already cost a massive £13.7m of public money - despite not a foot of tarmac ever being laid.

The 3.5 mile Mottram-Tintwistle by-pass is set to cost £183m and is expected to take thousands of vehicles a day away from overcrowded village roads on the edge of Tameside.

But over the past three years almost one tenth of the total cost has been spent just preparing the scheme.

And the proposal is currently on hold after a public inquiry - which has already been hit by several delays due to mistakes by the Highways Agency - was adjourned indefinitely because the Agency said it needed more time to get its figures right.

The hearing started in June last year and was expected to last about 10 weeks but the Agency is currently making its FIFTH attempt to draw up the right plans for the by-pass.

Now documents obtained by the M.E.N show that since August 2004 and October last year, £13,782,505.24 has been spent on the scheme.

Fees

The cash has been spent in a number of areas such as legal and design fees, preparing for the public inquiry and on consultants.

Campaigners against the scheme said it was `staggering' that so much public money had been wasted without a single road being dug up or laid.

Emma Lawrence, spokeswoman for the Save Swallows Wood campaign which is opposing the by-pass, said: "It is a lot of public money to waste, and it's likely to be the tip of the iceberg.

"Onto this figure you can add objectors' requests for compensation, the costs of paying contractors to put together yet another environmental statement, and all that's before the inquiry starts again.

"A lot could be done to tackle local transport issues with £13m but instead it's money down the drain."

Anne Robinson, of the Friends of Peak Park, added: "The Highways Agency has been shambolic and the amount of money spent is absolutely staggering."

And transport campaigner John Hall, from Denton, the most outspoken critic of the by-pass during the public inquiry, said: "They've spent nearly £14m, which is a complete write off because they now have to start the whole thing over again.

"The proposal has never been credible because the Highways Agency have not been able to produce credible evidence to substantiate it.

"I think someone needs to resign because the public have paid £14m for nothing."

The Highways Agency has admitted making a `significant error' in miscalculating how much traffic would use the proposed route and the impact it would have on the environment.

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A government source said it was worrying to see public money being spent and the Highways Agency getting its figures `awfully wrong'.

He said: "The amount spent progressing this scheme is staggering. It is worrying to see public money being spent by the Highways Agency, which is not doing its job properly. They need to be held accountable for this.

"The public inquiry should be abandoned and alternatives considered such as a ban on heavy traffic on affected roads, the re-opening of the Woodhead rail route for freight and passenger traffic or congestion charging."

The by-pass would take thousands of vehicles and HGVs away from the congested roads of Mottram, Hollingworth and Tintwistle, and link Tameside with the A628 Woodhead Pass to south Yorkshire.

Roads through the small villages carry more than 40,000 vehicles a day, including 4,000 HGVs

Residents have called for a by-pass since the 1970s when traffic switched to the village roads from the crowded M62 to cross the Pennines to Sheffield and the south.

Controversy

The proposal has sparked controversy with campaign groups being set up supporting and opposing the scheme.

Opponents claim the route will destroy areas of natural beauty, divert traffic through other small villages and that there are better alternatives.

A spokeswoman for the Highways Agency said the by-pass is designed to reduce congestion, improve safety and accessibility for road users, pedestrians and cyclists, and improve journey time reliability.

She said: "The cost of the scheme so far is £13,782,505.24. This includes design costs for the scheme, publication of draft orders, preparation and publication of the environmental statement, traffic modelling and the public inquiry. The estimated cost of the whole scheme quoted before the public inquiry was £183m.

"On December 18, the Agency apologised for the delay to the public inquiry, but confirmed that it is vitally important for the inspector and those attending the inquiry to have the most accurate and up to date information.

The spokeswoman added: "This will take time to carry out and we will be able to give a firm date in February 2008 indicating when we will complete this work.

"The Highways Agency believes that the public and everyone involved in the inquiry must have sufficient time to consider the revised information."

Draft compulsory purchase orders were printed in February 2007 but will not be issued until the end of the public inquiry.

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