Couriers could face Cambridge C-charge
Date: 20 September 2007
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Courier drivers may well have to pay a congestion charge in Cambridge if possible council plans come to fruition.
Business leader met at the city's University Arms hotel to debate what impact such a charge might have, with many voicing concerns over the plan, Cambridge Evening News reports.
The government has said it will provide Cambridgeshire County Council with £500 million, but only if it implements a congestion charge scheme, which would see drivers charged up to £5 to enter the city centre at peak times. There is certainly no guarantee that freight haulage drivers or couriers would be exempt.
John Bridge, chief executive of the Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce said that the public should be allowed to decide whether or not a C-charge went ahead and that the government should not dictate terms.
"We're being told we have a choice: getting £500 million for our infrastructure and introducing congestion charging, or not getting that money at all. I find that quite iniquitous.
"We have to ask, do we want to be blackmailed? Because that is what it is; there's no other word for it, it is £500 million with strings attached."
Richard Normington of Cambridge City Conservatives said that a congestion charge was a way of "taxing the poor off the roads".
A consultation on the plans will begin next month and run until February next year.
Manchester and Leeds are among the other cities where congestion charging is being considered.
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