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Council boss bid to change C-zones
Chris Jones10/ 7/2008
ONE of the key men involved with the project that could see the introduction of the toll-tax has revealed the charging zone could be shrunk.
Rochdale Council leader Alan Taylor, one the main supporters of the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid that would see £2.8bn spent on public transport improvements in return for a pay-as-you-drive scheme, said he was 'yet to be convinced' the M60 should be the outer boundary of the proposed charging ring.
He said the structure of TIF money offered by the government in June, which included a smaller loan than anticipated, allowed more room for manoeuvre on how the Association of Greater Manchester authorities (AGMA) raised funds to pay back the government.
He said: "I am yet to be convinced that the outer charging zone should be the M60. There is the possibility it could be shrunk and I would like to know what are the problems of shrinking it.
"The government has given us more money than we expected and it gives us more lee-way as we don't have to pay as much back."
Under the government's TIF offer to Manchester, Whitehall would hand over £2.8bn for public transport improvements, made up of a cash gift of £1.5bn and £1.2bn loan, with a further £0.1bn coming from other sources.
The money raised from congestion charging will be used to pay back some of £1.2bn loan.
However, AGMA expected the loan part of the government's TIF offer to be nearer £1.5bn, meaning £300M less is needed to be recouped from congestion charging to cover the debt.
Cllr Taylor believes this reduce loan burden allows transport chiefs more room for manoeuvre, which could include pushing the outer congestion charge ring away from the M60, taking it further away from Middleton.
The location of the inner charging ring closer to the city centre is currently being considered as part of a three month consultation exercise by AGMA on the TIF bid.
Tell us what you think. Email: middletonguardian@menwn.co.uk
Most recent 2 of 2 user comments
Why not shrink the charging zone to be, say, half a mile diameter centred on Manchester Town Hall?
10/07/2008 at 14:53
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What complicated webs these politicians weave
12/07/2008 at 10:37