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Congestion charge bid leaves town divided
Stephen Foster14/ 8/2007
TOP Lib Dem councillors are at war over the proposed congestion charges for driving into central Manchester.
On one side are Irene Davidson and Keith Swift - plus their colleagues on the Pennines Township committee.
On the other is their boss, the council leader, Alan Taylor.
The Pennines councillors have joined forces with councillors in Middleton and Heywood to reject the scheme, leaving only councillors from Rochdale wards in favour.
The antis argue there is no benefit in the congestion charges for the people they represent.
Councillor Davidson, who is Councillor Taylor's deputy, said: "I can see no benefit of the scheme for the people of the Pennines and we feel that Manchester is greedy in going in for the bid.
"It has not been properly thought out and will cost the people of Milnrow, Newhey and Littleborough more money in train fares.
"People who live in villages are not the highest paid and this has been proved by government statistics.
"Rochdale councillors have supported the bid to enable us to get government money to bring the Metrolink to the bus station, but we feel that the government is holding us to ransom and we are not confident that Metrolink will come to the bus station, anyway. We think it will stop at the railway station.
"The Pennines councillors could not see how the congestion charging would benefit the people of the Pennines."
Councillor Swift told a meeting of the Pennines Township committee: "Manchester is missing the point here. Businesses in the area could alleviate problems by working to stagger opening and closing times and give employees more flexibility about travel.
"They could enable their employees to use the available road space in a smarter way. There are ways to ease congestion without bringing in charges.
"If you charge people for travelling to work they will have less disposable income to spend in the region, which ultimately affects the economy.
"People will try to avoid the charge and cause congestion at earlier or later times. So, the congestion will just move to another time.
"After a time the charge will probably go up. It seems like a carrot and a stick from the government."
Rochdale's cabinet agreed last month to back a £3billion countywide bid for public transport cash from the Transport Innovation Fund in return for road pricing. The bid includes extending the successful Metrolink tram system and providing more bus and train services.
Councillor Taylor said: "I have always been of the opinion that we need to put in a bid for Metro money from the government to see what we can get back for Rochdale. We have put the bid in and now we look forward to seeing significant improvements if successful.
"We hope we will get £1,200M, then we can look at specific improvements for the borough. In particular, the insurance of the successful completion of the Metrolink in Rochdale, Milnrow and Newhey which will benefit thousands of residents and the improvements to our buses and trains.
"I must stress at this stage I have not voted to introduce congestion charging. We will fully consult the people of Rochdale on any future plans to bring in any charges. I can give the people of this borough the assurance that we will oppose any secondary congestion charging plans."
Most recent 2 of 3 user comments
15/08/2007 at 16:23
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£1.2Bn will be a cash handout from our glorious dictator at number ten.
A whoping £1.8Bn will be the loan, which, is basically us borrowing back the tax we've already paid to them once, but this time, we'll also be paying interest.
The whole scheme is badly thought out and no one, it seems, has the power to stop them. Not even their own four points system.
17/08/2007 at 08:40