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FTA welcomes Conservative plans for more road building
Page 14
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Tory plans to boost road building without raising taxes have been
welcomed by the industry. David Harris reports.
A CONSERVATIVE PARTY review group has backed a significant increase in the nation's road building programme.
The party's economic competitiveness review group says in an 'interim paper' that it wants a "more balanced transport policy, recognising that people and business need roads as well as railways". It is looking at longterm programmes to increase capacity on main haulage routes.
The Freight Transport Association has welcomed the Conservative analysis. Geoff Dossetter, director of external affairs,says: "This sort of statement is always welcome because there is no doubt that we need new roads, and roads which already exist need expanding."
John Redwood, the former cabinet minister who chairs the review group, said in an interview with the Financial Times that he saw no reason why road building should necessarily be environmentally unfriendly.
Extra roads could help reduce emissions if congestion were reduced, he claimed.
Paying for the new roads need not involve raising taxes, according to the review group. It says the Conservatives would aim to "boost growth, raising personal incomes and the amount collected in taxation".
Redwood said: "If we could lift our growth by I% we would have £5,000m a year extra to spend on public services and £7,000m a year to spend on our families."