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Manchester says 'no' to congestion charge
Page 7
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By Joanna Bourke HAULIERS ARE celebrating the result of the Manchester Transport Innovation Fund (TIE) referendum in which residents voted 'no' to a congestion charge • but the trade bodies say the fight against congestion must go on.
On 12 December, voters in all of the region's 10 boroughs voted against the 12.8bn funding package. Despite the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) hoping the TIF would improve public transport, many local hauliers remained unconvinced.
Roy Andrew, transport manager at Hyde, Cheshire-based Roberts Transport Services, g says: "It would have affected us on a personal
ni F and business level. I don't believe for a second E it would benefit anyone hut the Government."
Under the scheme, rejected by almost 80% of voters, drivers could have been charged up to LS a day for travelling at peak times.
However the Freight Transport Association (FTA) says that without a curb on peak-time traffic, deliveries will suffer.
Malcolm Bingham, FTA head of policy for the North of England, comments: "We were confident that the congestion charge could represent something of real benefit tobusinesses and the logistics industry in the area."
He continues: "The decision is a real missed opportunity" AGMA said if the scheme had been given the go-ahead, HGVs would have been exempt from payment for the first year while a study into the impact it would have on the freight industry was carried out.
James Wilkinson, managing director of Atherton-based haulier Austin Wilkinson and Sons, argues: "Twelve months is all very well — but an HGV congestion charge should never really have been a consideration in the first place."