‘Crazy road tax’ plan

Feb 6 2008 by William Green, The Journal

MOTORISTS could be forced to pay controversial congestion charges in huge areas of the region under plans revealed to The Journal.

Tens of thousands of motorists could face a £1 fee to enter an outer charging zone and £2 to enter a city centre under two road pricing schemes based around Newcastle and Sunderland.

The whole of Newcastle, most of Gateshead and parts of South and North Tyneside might be covered by one scheme, with Sunderland included in the other zone but not Washington.

Last night, Tyne and Wear transport chiefs said no decisions had been made about road charging and there were no immediate plans to introduce it because there was no “compelling” need.

Newcastle City Council leader John Shipley said London-style congestion charges were “unacceptable” and reiterated his promise they would not be introduced while he ran the authority.

But the revelations sparked concerns about the potential economic impact of the proposals, developed by consultants working on a study on measures to address rising traffic volumes.

Tyne and Wear transport chiefs from five authorities are carrying out the “People in Motion” study with the role of public transport, road pricing and parking among areas being considered as the economically damaging impact of congestion is tackled.

A report is expected within six weeks and may form the basis of any bid for cash from the Government’s Transport Innovation Fund (Tif), which will provide up to £200m a year for traffic-busting schemes.

The Department for Transport has said it is more likely to support schemes where there is road charging – although projects should have supporting measures, which could include better public transport and infrastructure.

Newcastle Central Labour MP Jim Cousins said: “If you want to damage the prospects of business in Newcastle and want to damage the housing market, you couldn’t really have come up with a better set of proposals.

“And to introduce a system of charging where you actually have to pay to go from part of Newcastle to another is just crazy.” He suggested a “cordon” charge around Newcastle would be better, encouraging the use of park and ride and the Metro. But he expected the charging proposals to be watered down or dropped for political reasons.

Sunderland Council Tory group leader Lee Martin said: “It would be the final nail in the coffin for Sunderland city centre.”

Tyne Bridge Labour MP David Clelland, who sits on the Commons Transport Committee, said he had no objection in principle, but public transport needed to be improved first and motorists satisfied the cash raised would be spent on roads.

AA president Edmund King warned of the need to balance mobility and securing businesses. He said: “Shoppers may vote with their wheels and go elsewhere.”

North-East Chamber of Commerce policy director Andrew Sugden said it appeared areas could have any transport improvement as long as congestion charging was involved.

A Newcastle Council spokesman said: “We have not made any decision about the future of road use charging and there are no plans to introduce congestion charging in the Tyne and Wear area.

“As part of the People in Motion project, the leaders of the Tyne and Wear local authorities have remitted us to undertake further research work, the results of which will be discussed in detail at a future meeting. At this stage, there is no compelling need for the introduction of a congestion-charging scheme in the city centre or elsewhere in Tyne and Wear. No policy commitments have been made to this measure.”

A DfT spokeswoman said: “It is for local authorities to decide if it is appropriate to bid for transport innovation funding and to decide the plan they put forward.

“We await with interest, if Tyne and Wear want to bid for transport innovation funding, what their plan would look like.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

No chance on my watch, says council leader

NEWCASTLE Council leader John Shipley has insisted congestion charging is "absolutely unacceptable" in the city.

Speaking to The Journal, he confirmed that consultants had drawn up a proposal for charging zones around Newcastle and Sunderland as part of a wider study into potential ways to tackle rising traffic levels that risk damaging prosperity.

But Coun Shipley stressed he had resolutely opposed any plans for a London-style congestion charge, branding it unnecessary with limited congestion in Newcastle’s rush hour.

He said there were other ways of regulating traffic, adding: "I have said consistently as leader of Newcastle that while I am leader there will be no form of congestion charging in our city because I believe it would destroy our economy.

"It is absolutely unacceptable as a proposal. It would force out investment from the urban core."

Mr Shipley said research had to be done to look at options because it was important to have evidence to rule out any proposal.

He stressed there were no plans to introduce congestion charging because there was no compelling case for such a measure with the traffic study due to be completed within six weeks.

"This report has not been finalised yet. As far as I can tell there is no political support of any party or any officer support for the suggestion," added Coun Shipley

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Metro linked to road pricing

THE Government wanted Tyne and Wear transport chiefs to consider introducing road charging to pay for Metro upgrades, it has emerged.

An official briefing note, prepared for a transport minister before a meeting with a North-East delegation of political leaders and Nexus to discuss the Metro, highlighted an emphasis on congestion charging as a way of raising cash to improve the system.

The document was prepared for Derek Twigg before talks on May 16 2006, but has only just come to light under freedom of information rules.

A note of the meeting confirmed Mr Twigg asked if the Metro’s future had been linked with a Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid.

Former Nexus director-general Mike Parker said appropriate car restraint measures would be considered as part of TIF research.

Last night, Nexus said it needed £600m to modernise the Metro system, which is nearly 30 years old, with £50m for phase one of the scheme secured – including £13m from the Government for new ticket machines and electronic barriers.

"Discussions with ministers and civil servants are ongoing about the rest of the bid and all the meetings we have had with them have been positive."

A spokeswoman for the Tyne and Wear study investigating possible traffic-busting measures said the Metro was not linked to its work.

A DfT spokeswoman said the briefing note was now out of date and that the bid to reinvigorate the Metro was not dependent on any road pricing proposals.