The Bury Lib Dem campaign against congestion charging was finally vindicated today when it was revealed that funding for public transport may be made available WITHOUT the need for congestion charging after all!

A costly and controversial referendum on congestion charging was held across Greater Manchester after local Councils in the city region were the only ones in the country to bid for funding contingent on congestion charging. The proposals were rejected by almost 80% of local voters after a campaign led by the Liberal Democrats in Bury. We called for funding for public transport without unfair road charges, but were told at the time that there was no alternative.

 Now, that lie has been exposed after it was revealed that money from the Transport Innovation Fund, which was conditional on charging schemes being introduced, will now be made available to all councils – including those in our region – with NO strings attached.

Unsurprisingly lots of people are annoyed that we were lied to, leading to an expensive consultation exercise, loads of money wasted promoting the original TIF bid, and a hugely costly referendum.

The Manchester Evening News reports how then transport secretary Geoff Hoon warned on the eve of the vote that unless Greater Manchester said ‘yes’ it it would get NO extra transport cash. Council chiefs in Greater Manchester – who also warned at the time there was ‘no plan B’ – have since come up with an alternative £1.5bn funding package based on borrowing against future council tax rises.

A ‘discussion paper’ released by the Department for Transport says TIF’s ‘weaknesses’ lay in its ‘too narrow focus’ on congestion and its ‘failure to win public acceptance for the more challenging proposals’.

 Greater

Sean Corker, who led the campaign against the congestion charge as part of the pressure group Manchester Against Road Tolls, called for an inquiry into how much was spent promoting TIF.

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Remember, the Lib Dems were the only party in Bury against the TIF bid’s proposals for congestion from the start. The Tories signed the TIF proposals, and Labour campaigned publicly for them.

I knew we were right then, and we have been vindicated. It is now up to the government to properly fund public transport in the area without imposing unfair congestion charges on motorists.

Rick