Date published: 2009/06/18
The Cambridge News says:
Campaigners trying to kill off the idea of a congestion charge for Cambridge have been warned they face a tough fight.
Sean Corker, co-ordinator of Manchester Against Road Tolls, said opponents would have to fight hard "to overcome intransigent politicians allied with highly vocal minority interest groups".
...
Since the vote in Greater Manchester, a new scheme has been worked out for the area, involving £1.4 billion of investment - but no congestion charge.Mr Corker said council officials and cycling groups in Cambridgeshire had made inaccurate statements about what had happened in Manchester.
He said: "It has been suggested the £1.4 billion does not contain new money, but in fact it does - there is £165 million for a new bypass for Stockport.
"The original £2.75 billion plan included £650 million to put in the congestion- charging infrastructure and £600 million contingency in case of revenue shortfall or cost over-runs.
"Only £1.5 billion was earmarked for public transport investment.
"Instead of drivers paying up to £5 per day, everybody will now contribute an extra £2 per person per year in council tax."
It is not just a matter of "intransigent politicians allied with highly vocal minority interest groups", although they play a big role. It is also that many of the politicians who support the "congestion charge" (i.e. access tax) don't live anywhere near Cambridge and just see this as a way of milking the people who live in and near Cambridge for some money for their own towns. And the transport bureaucrats in the county council are also "intransigent" and a big part of the problem (they seem incapable of transport planning, for one thing). The county council did not help its case when it could not even spell out exactly how it would spend, or why it needed, the alleged windfall it was expecting from central government. All in all it is a classic example of the academic middle class people who run Cambridge(shire) sticking two fingers up to the peasants and assuming they will get away with it.
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