As could probably have been predicted the residents of the 10 areas of Greater Manchester have voted against the proposed Congestion Charge – meaning the £2.75billion worth of investment for local public transport through the Transport Innovation Fund will not now go ahead. The government had said that the only way to get money through this fund was to introduce congestion charging, part of the reason why the West Midlands decided against bidding in the end.
All ten local authority areas voted against the proposal with the best result for the “Yes” camp being in central Manchester where 28% voted in favour with the worst being in Salford at 16%.
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “We have a very clear result and I’ve already said what the people of Manchester say is what I will be taking forward. This was the only opportunity to get £3billion of investment in public transport over the next five years and 10,000 jobs to go with it. So far nobody has been able to put forward a credible alternative to get those levels of investment.”
Lord Peter Smith, chairman of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, added: “This is not just a vote no for congestion charging, it’s a vote no to improvements on the trams railways and buses and there will now be no improvements."
Councillors and officials at the GMPTA must now decide on their next move. Cllr Matt Colledge, Chairman of the GMPTA, said: “The people of Greater Manchester have taken the opportunity to express their opinion. Greater Manchester has taken a bold step in putting forward this bid to radically improve the public transport network. We now need to rethink and reconsider the limited funding we currently get and prioritise this across the region, while looking to identify further funding for our longer term public transport vision. As a result of the detailed and dedicated work and extensive consultation that has gone into preparing such an enormously intricate bid, we now have a clear set of transport investment priorities and business cases for Greater Manchester. We are committed to ensuring that this legacy is put to good use by working hard with central government to establish alternative ways to deliver these schemes, which remain critical to the future of our economy.”
Cllr Keith Whitmore, GMPTA’s Vice Chairman, added: “The job of the Authority remains as important as ever. We will continue to champion the needs of passengers in Greater Manchester across all public transport services, and we look forward to driving the delivery of the many exciting projects that are already underway. Over the next few years we will oversee the next stage of the Metrolink expansion to Oldham, Rochdale, Chorlton, Droylsden and MediaCityUK, and anticipated improvements to facilities at Salford Central, Salford Crescent and Victoria railway stations.”
Roger Jones, former Chairman of the GMPTA, and a councillor who lost his seat at the last election mainly due to his support of the charge, said: “This was our only chance. Anything else we get from the Government will be piecemeal. Ninety-two per cent of the TIF money was ours. It wasn't going to go anywhere else. Even if the Government removes the requirement for there to be a charge in order to access the money, it will be a free-for-all. Manchester will not pick up the lion's share.”
The no vote does not affect the funding for Metrolink to Oldham, Rochdale, Chorlton and Droylsden which is already in place.
Source: Bury Times & Manchester Evening News