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Government urged to say 'no'

29/ 2/2008

TRANSPORT Secretary Ruth Kelly has written directly to Advertiser editor Gerry Sammon in response to our 5,000-plus congestion charge campaign.

In the handsigned letter, the Bolton MP whose department will decide if a toll tax will be imposed on Greater Manchester says schemes with an "unacceptable social or other cost" can expect no cash from the Transport Innovation Fund.

She was replying to Mr Sammon's letter included with the joint petition between the Advertiser and its sister paper the Middleton Guardian containing more than 5,000 signatures, which was handed by to her department by Blackley MP Graham Stringer three weeks ago.

In it, he called on Ms Kelly to "close the book" on the prospect of a Toll Tax for the region, which will cost drivers £5 a day for driving in and out of Manchester.

Instead, Ms Kelly's letter says road pricing can be "a powerful tool" in tackling congestion but acknowledges people need to see the benefits for themselves before they are likely to support it.

The judgment, expected soon, will see £3bn spent on improving public transport in the region if Ms Kelly gives the nod. The cash would be made up of a £1.2bn grant and £1.8bn loan.

The bid has been backed by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities but widely criticised as an unfair extra tax on motorists and potentially damaging to the local economy.

Ms Kelly's letter acknowledged that it was Manchester City Council's responsibility to carry out local consultation on the proposals and said that development proposals should reflect these views for a TIF bid to be successful.

She said: "We attach great importance to local consultation and we will want to be sure that local people and businesses have been consulted effectively before we take any final decisions to award funding."