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C-charge: public to vote
25/ 7/2008
GREATER Manchester WILL have a vote on congestion charging.
Leaders of the 10 local councils have agreed that a referendum should take place on the controversial proposal.
But the results will be broken down on a borough by borough basis and only if people in seven out of the 10 Greater Manchester authorities vote yes will congestion charges be imposed. Any less and the scheme will collapse.
The government is offering Greater Manchester up to £3bn for public transport improvements in return for the peak hour-only charge of up to £10.
A 14-week consultation on the proposal is due to end on October 10. A referendum will take place in December, probably via postal voting and polling stations.
All or nothing
Lord Peter Smith, leader of AGMA, Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, said: “At the last meeting we asked for an agreement towards a referendum and today’s news is an important step forward for the people of Greater Manchester who now have an opportunity to vote on one of the most important decisions this city region has seen for decades.
"People will have their say on whether thay want to say yes to transform public transport systems in Greater Manchester including a congestion charge to ensure the region can continue to prosper.
“It’s all or nothing.”
A small group of AGMA leaders with officer support will develop the referendum and indtend to sort out the details by the end of September.
Before today’s meeting Trafford, Bury and Stockport councils had already said they were opposed to the government deal.
Manchester, Salford, Tameside, Wigan, Rochdale and Oldham support the plan and Bolton had pledged to hold a local referendum.
At today’s meeting Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester council, said independent scrutiny of the referendum would be crucial.
The Electoral Reform Society will be commissioned to assist with the wording of a question put on ballot papers.
Sir Richard Leese had proposed a single county-wide ballot four weeks ago on condition that all 10 local authorities were bound by the result.
He said: “Since then some local authorities have been told by their lawyers we can’t do that. This proposal gives us a way forward.”
Click here to see an interactive map of the congestion charge zones
Most recent 2 of 188 user comments
when was it tried and abandoded previously? I understand tolling is still used, on some motorways, bridges and tunnels?
the technology involved shouldnt be that expensive, most people now have mobile phones which easily keep track of where they are and these are fairly inexpensive. certainly if added to new cars (cost 5k upwards? an extra 50 quid for a bit of technology would hardly be noticed)
as you say fuel duty is simple to collect and hard to avoid,
however if road use charging is going to be intorduced, a single scheme which works everywhere must be better than each city or area having a different method?
this will complicate things greatly for people who may only visit a city occasionally?
31/07/2008 at 11:28
Got an opinion you want to share?Which way will you vote in the congestion charge referendum?
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Because people always complain about tax. If people were welcoming the idea of electronic road pricing with open arms, you might have a point, but the objections to it are far more vocal than the objections to fuel duty.
It is the level of pricing that is the main cause of complaint, not the method of collection. I would bet that if you told most drivers that you were going to charge them a certain amount and gave them a choice of either paying it through electronic monitoring of their driving or paying for it at the pump, most would prefer the simplicity and privacy of paying at the pump.
"however if road use charging is going to be intorduced, a single scheme which works everywhere must be better than each city or area having a different method?"
Definitely, but fuel duty already serves that purpose perfectly well.
31/07/2008 at 11:56