Tory plan will hit motorists
September 3, 2006 9:00 PM
The Liberal Democrat leadership of Milton Keynes Council has again turned down Northants Tory Leader's plea to join their bid to Government for a road user charging scheme.
Commenting on a letter from Northants Tory Leader, Jim Harker, who blamed Milton Keynes Council's failure to support last year's bid as a major reason for its failure, Lib Dem Council Leader, Cllr Isobel McCall, said:
"We simply do not have the level of congestion in Milton Keynes that warrants charging motorists for driving on the city's roads. Although traffic jams are starting to develop on some routes in rush hours, most of the day it runs freely. The Lib Dem Council has started work on improving the capacity of key junctions and roundabouts where traffic is building up in rush hours to prevent the problems experienced in other cities. Prevention is far better than a financial cure."
Isobel McCall insisted: "The Liberal Democrats are not in the business of hitting motorists just to curry favour with the Government which is what the surrounding Tory County Councils seemed intent on doing."
"The Lib Dem Council is acting in the interests of local people by not caving in to Tory pressure to join the bid for Government funding. Instead we are investing in practical measures of our own, working with developers and Milton Keynes Partnership, to ensure our grid road system continues to run smoothly. We are surprised that the neighbouring three Tory county councils are so keen on charging motorists. It's certainly not on our agenda," continued Cllr McCall.
Cllr. Isobel McCall demanded that Milton Keynes Council's name was removed from the joint bid. The Lib Dem run Luton Council has also pulled out.
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