Mitchell stalls on Paddington inquiry date
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• Transport minister David Mitchell is still considering the appropriate form of inquiry into a new London Coach Terminal — five months after he rejected London Regional Transport's proposal to develop a site at Paddington.
The Department of Transport says no timetable has been laid down for establishing such an enquiry and will not comment on suggestions that the enquiry may be delayed until after the next election.
The continuing delay is causing concern in the industry. LRTs proposed site in Paddington is currently being developed as a shopping, office and residential centre by Grairthurst Properties. When Grainliurst begins piling and bricklaying on the site it will become too expensive to develop as a coach terminal. That point is expected to be reached within the next few months.
A spokesman for LRT says: "There is still some leeway in this but something has to be done fairly quickly,"