Browse Sections

• Education
• Special reports

Bury blow for congestion charge plans

13/12/2007

PLANS to bring congestion charging to Greater Manchester have suffered a further blow after a third council withdrew its support for the scheme.

At a stormy town hall meeting last night, Bury council also called for a Greater Manchester-wide referendum on congestion charging.

Councillors passed a motion stating that the council would be `against the Transport Innovation Fund Bid if congestion charges are included in the final offer from the government'.

The Lib Dem amendment to an original Conservative motion went on to state that the council `requires that public support for the initiative is confirmed through a Greater Manchester wide consultative referendum on congestion charging'.

The vote, on which Labour councillors on the Conservative-majority council abstained, means Bury has now joined Stockport and Trafford in rebelling against the pay-as-you-drive plan.

Today only seven of Greater Manchester's 10 local authorities are in favour of the bid to implement road pricing in return for £3bn of public transport improvements.

Last night's vote means the current bid to the government's Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) could collapse if just one more town hall changes its mind.

Under the terms of the bid by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA), which meets tomorrow, there must be at least a two-thirds majority among the councils for it to go ahead. If another council breaks ranks, the bid could only go ahead if there was a public vote in favour of the proposals in a referendum across all 10 district authorities.

If successful, 60 per cent of the £3bn sum would have to be paid back through a charge of up to £5 a day to travel selected routes around the city. A decision is now expected in March.

Council bosses in Bury voted to back the bid in July after AGMA agreed to tackle traffic congestion in the north of the town and in Ramsbottom. The ruling Conservative group however performed a U-turn and announced plans to withdraw its support after council leader Bob Bibby said there had been no progress on the AGMA vows.

Bury's Labour group accused the council of `making decisions before the outcome of the TIF bid is known' and `running scared' after anti road toll campaigners threatened to lobby for an elected major who would overthrow the plans.

Debate

Coun Wayne Campbell said: "We want this money but it is not just going to appear. To do nothing is not an option. We should debate it at the right time and the right time will be when the bid is put in."

But both Bury's Tories and Lib Dems said they supported the TIF bid, divorced however from the congestion charge element.

They argued that public transport improvements should be central government policy and branded the TIF `the Transport Injustice Fund'.

Lib Dem leader Tim Pickstone revealed that he and Bury's other political party leaders received a letter from Sir Howard Bernstein, Manchester City Council's chief executive, urging them to support the bid.

He said: "Bury is flexing its muscles in Greater Manchester. We will not stand for government bullying."

Coun Richard Baum added: "We need people using sustainable public transport but there is no such thing as a free lunch. We pay for it through our tax and the government wants us to pay for it again through congestion charging."

Tory leader Bob Bibby added: "We are against the principal of congestion charging. What we are not against is £3bn worth of public transport investment."

The council re-affirmed its support of public transport bus `corridors' to the north of the town.

It added that a public transport boost in Manchester was `urgently needed' but that it rejected the attempts of the government to `force congestion charging on Greater Manchester to receive the public transport that we need'.

Most recent 2 of 8 user comments