GMPTA chairman answers local councillors concerns

Having listened to the chairman of Greater Manchester Transport Authority, Councillor Roger Jones, 'sell' the Transport Innovation Fund bid with concomitant congestion charge, Rochdale councillors were given the opportunity to question Councillor Jones. The first question being which town of the proposed Metrolink extensions is to get theirs first?

Councillor Jones was diplomatic in his reply insisting that ideally he would like to see all the extensions started at the same time. He did however add the caveat that he could not make such a commitment because the company winning the tender may have technical or financial reasons why one extension should be started and completed before another.

Next question, from Councillor Wera Hobhouse, was how would Heywood and Middleton benefit from Metrolink as it will not go near either area.

Councillor Jones explained this is why he had emphasised how important the massive improvements planned for bus services would be, because those who do not live near enough to benefit form Metrolink still need good public transport.

Councillor Pauline McGuire asked how congestion charging was going to affect businesses. Councillor Jones said that some businesses support the congestion charge, because they say the congestion is costing billions in lost trade, others are against the charge because they say it will costs billions in lost trade!

He explained that all Greater Manchester authorities want a thriving business culture so if he “thought for one minute” that business would be badly affected they would not have bid. He does not believe that business will be badly affected, despite the clear concerns of some local councillors that the effect will be to put smaller businesses out of business. Councillor Jones felt the five years notice should be long enough for businesses to prepare and adapt.

Middleton councillor Terry Linden took issue with the promise that buses would be the answer in Middleton, even with massive improvements. He also expressed concern that as Middleton will straddle the boundary of the congestion charge area, Middleton will become one huge car park as drivers seek to avoid paying the congestion charge by parking up in Middleton and travelling into Manchester by public transport. A view echoed by Heywood councillor Colin Lambert who fears the same would happen in Heywood.

By this stage the proceedings had become somewhat surreal, here was the Labour chairman of the passenger transport authority being supported by Liberal Democrats and vehemently opposed by Labour members!

The Conservatives also remain implacably opposed to the congestion charge proposal, with Councillor Robert Clegg mischievously asking how Councillor Jones had got from Manchester to the meeting in Rochdale. Councillor Jones said he was not ashamed to admit he did so by car, though he insisted he does often use public transport.

The question and answer session concluded with Councillor Jones insisting that the congestion charge would happen so there is a need to embrace it and make the best of it, but he emphasised that the proposal is only to charge for going into and out of Manchester at peak times and there would be discussions about exemptions.

His major priority was to "ensure that the Greater Manchester economy continues to grown and thrive", having grown 12% in the past five years in contrast to other North West conurbations - something he said we should all be proud of.