A ROW has broken out over improvements to Pokesdown rail station after some councillors voted against using council funds towards the project.

Members of BCP Council’s overview and scrutiny committee opposed council investment in the project during a discussion on Monday.

The work proposed includes two new lifts for the station and improvements to the bridge across the rail line with the council pledging to meet up to £2.6million of the costs.

If the plan goes ahead, it will be paid through a 50 year loan, to be funded by local taxpayers.

Another £3.1 million would come from South Western Railway (SWR) and Network Rail.

Committee chairman, Councillor Steve Bartlett said it was wrong for the rail operator to wriggle out of an agreement it made at the time of winning the franchise, that it would pay for the works to make the station fully accessible.

He said: "The council is not responsible, SWR is, and it’s not reasonable to ask our council taxpayers to fund this."

Speaking after the meeting, transport portfolio holder Councillor Mike Green, told the Daily Echo: "Every avenue has been explored to see if SWR can be forced to pay for the full amount for the lifts, but that has proved impossible.

"Which leaves us in the position that we can either bridge the financial gap or we can resign ourselves to those lifts never being delivered.

"We have been able to persuade Network Rail to come up with a further £1.5m in order to carry out additional significant station enhancements as part of a package, which means we can get £5.7m of improvements including the lifts for a maximum contribution of £2.6m.

"Or we can do nothing and disabled people and those with mobility difficulties will still not be able to access the platforms easily and safely.

"I will be urging cabinet and council to agree to allocate the money from the £50 million Futures Fund that is already approved. If they do, then we can continue the legal work to finally make this happen."

Boscombe East and Pokesdown ward councillor, George Farquhar, said: "It is obvious that this Conservative administration is being fiscally irresponsible to cover up their lack of effort to source funding from elsewhere other than the local taxpayers pocket.

"This seems part of their mode of operating, make a big announcement, scrabble to produce a paper to justify it and when questioned on lack of detail or due diligence, such as who is to pay for it they claim the paper is strategic big ideas and the detail will come later. In this case they have been caught out."

Councillor Andy Hadley, transport lead for the Unity Alliance said: "Accessibility at railway stations is important, but the responsibility clearly rests with South Western Railway (SWR).

"This cost to the public is being heralded as a success by the local MP, but its a blatant example of why the privatisation process is a really expensive and poorly performing way to run essential services, turning even their contracted improvements back to be funded by us all."