I had a political flyer through the door today, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the “Tram Update” in flowery script from Jane Urquhart – the imbecile directly responsible for the tram at this point in time. One line in particular is worth quoting:
All shops will continue to be open as usual during the works.
Sorry, Jane, but you are totally and utterly wrong. The Clifton Chinese on Varney Road and Michael’s Fresh Bake at the top end of Clifton won’t be. Both of those went bust as a direct result of your beloved tram. Outside Clifton, there have been others forced to close. Many others are almost bankrupt, and there’s no guarantee they’ll recover. They’ll certainly never recoup what they’ve lost, and it’s all thanks to the tram and whoever has been its mouthpiece during its construction.
Indeed, Urquhart’s cronies at NET are apparently just as bad when it comes to idiotic and misinformed rhetoric. In that link concerning the Beeston florist, they are quoted:
If the owners of the Greenfingers Flower Shop believed the tram works were affecting the business, we could have looked into it, but they have not been in touch with us.
What a complete and utter arrogant twat. Maybe NET should have looked at completing the work ahead of time instead of allowing it to fall many months behind. What does he think NET could have done? Given the shop keeper a skip full of money? Because that’s the only thing that will work if you have been stupid enough to close a road off for a year, then incompetent enough after that to extend the closure by half as much again.
The tram is a complete screw up. You can make up your own mind about those who are responsible for building it.