West London Tram Consultation

West London Friends of the Earth has welcomed the public support for the tram that was announced by Transport for London (TfL), following its major consultation.

In a representative sample of over 1000, there was 3 to 1 support (54% to 18%) for the tram.

The Mayor of London said: "With three times as many people supporting the tram as oppose it (54 per cent compared to 18 per cent) in west London, it is clear that this major transport investment has strong local support."

"The comprehensive and transparent nature of the public consultation ensured everyone with an interest in the proposed West London Tram had the opportunity to have their say. The process confirmed there is strong support for the project but there are also significant issues and we will be looking in more detail at all the concerns and issues raised to see what can be done to take account of these."

Nic Ferriday, spokesperson for West London Friends of the Earth, said "This is a ringing endorsement for better public transport and for the campaign in favour of the tram that Friends of the Earth has been running. It is entirely consistent with the public's view that we have to do something about our transport system and to address the ever-increasing problem of congestion."

According to Transport for London (TfL), the research also showed strong support for the tram in every borough along its route. This ranged from very strong support in Hammersmith and Fulham where 69 per cent were in favour and eight per cent against, through to Hillingdon where 43 per cent supported the tram and 21 per cent were opposed, while in Ealing 39 per cent were in favour and 32 per cent against. The findings are in line with previous polls which have consistently shown strong support for the tram.

In addition to the representative sample, over 440,000 questionnaires were distributed. There were 19,000 responses and these showed a very different pattern to the sample. They showed a 2 to 1 majority against (59% to 30%).

The negative response on the questionnaires was entirely to be expected. Whenever something new is proposed, those people opposed will tend to protest and campaign against it, while those in favour do not see the need to do anything. This leads to a 'self-selected' sample, which cannot possibly be construed as representative.

An appreciable 'no' response on the questionnaires from the Ealing Brodway and West Ealing area was predicable, given the intensive and misleading campaign mounted by Save Ealing's Streets (alias Ealing's car lobby). But given that over 440,000 questionnaires were distributed, the number of anti-tram responses - about 10,000 or 2.2% - is very low.

Having said this, there are genuine concerns expressed by the people who were opposed to the tram. TfL have rather 'spun' the results to play this down, which can only lead to mistrust, although on this occasion we believe that would be unjustified.

TfL say they will ensure that these comments are taken account of in the design. The major concern - that cars will be diverted down residential side streets - does indeed need to be addressed. It is expected that money will be put aside for local traffic schemes intended to do this. But it remains to be seen whether the car lobby will also campaign against such measures, which will, by their very nature, restrict car traffic.