Plans to introduce congestion charging in Greater Manchester have been thrown into disarray after the region’s three non-Labour councils withdrew their support, claiming information was being withheld.
The rebel councils said the GMPTA was deliberately delaying details of the scheme until after the local elections in May, by which time it would be too late for public consultation before the bid was submitted to the Government in July.
Brian Millard, leader of Stockport council (Lib Dem), told Surveyor the council had always supported the principle of congestion charging, providing alternative forms of transport were in place. ‘But the public and businesses must approve.’
However, Councillor Roger Jones, GMPTA’s chair, hit back at accusations that councillors were being ‘misled’. ‘No-one is being asked to support the introduction of an unspecified congestion charge,’ he said.
‘The only decision taken has been to commission our officers to investigate the potential role that charging may play.’ He said the decision would not be made until the end of May because officers’ investigations were still under way – a position all 10 leaders were made aware of last month.
The GMPTA announced a broad plan in January, in which congestion charging would operate on 15 main routes into the centre of Manchester (Surveyor, 25 January).
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