Council fights charge
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• Westminster City Council is continuing to fight the London congestion charge despite losing Its court case challenging the legality of the scheme.
The Council has outlined five key tests that measure the scheme's effectiveness and is to set up a scrutiny panel of all affected London boroughs to monitor its effects. Crucial among its five tests is that congestion must fall by 10%.
Announcing the developments at a press conference last week to promote the use of alternative fuel vehicles, Simon Mitten, leader of Westminster Council, claimed that the scheme will take £1.2bn out of the central London economy over the next five years.
He says: It is nonsense to place a congestion charge on commercial vehicles. It will not reduce congestion, It will simply increase the cost to business.
"If the charge proves to be a failure and to the detriment of central London, we will demand that It is scrapped," says Milton.