Norwich congestion charge project a sham

Greens condemn Norwich congestion charge project as a sham

 

·        TIF project was just a 'wheeze' to develop the NDR

 

Green Councillors today condemned the Conservative administration at County Hall for carrying out a sham study into congestion charging in the Norwich area.  They point out that Government funding intended for sustainable transport has been used to fund traffic modelling for the NDR and to falsely justify building the NDR. 

 

The Government itself rumbled Councils like Norfolk last year when they warned that Councils would not be able to use TIF funding for road building (see note 1).    

 

Green County Councillor Andrew Boswell said "We warned in 2006 that the TIF congestion charge project was a 'wheeze' for the Council to do modelling work to justify the Northern Distributor Road.  We have been proved right. It is a disgrace that Government money intended to promote sustainable transport has been used to help develop an old-fashioned road-building project.  "

 

The Green Party key transport policies for Norwich are:

·        A massive improvement in public transport with a Quality Bus Contract (QBC) to hugely improve Norwich's bus services;   

·        A blanket 20mph speed limit on all urban residential roads, 30mph to remain on ring roads and key radial routes;

·        The completion of the Norwich Cycle Network, including more cycle friendly infrastructure;

·        Greater pedestrian-only areas in the city centre.

 

Councillor Rupert Read, Norwich Green Party Transport spokesperson said "We would develop real sustainable transport solutions paid for by the cancellation of the white elephant 'Northern Distributor Road'.  20mph limits, a Quality Bus Contract with greater funding, and a complete cycle network would transform the city -  making it much more pleasant and viable for those on foot and on bike, and making public transport in Norwich affordable again. It is a great shame moreover that the County Council has wasted time and money on this pointless TIF study when they could have been spending that time and money instead on improvements to public transport which by now they could and should have put in place. "

 

Further Information:

 

1.  The House of Commons Transport Committee carried out a complete study on TIF.  After interviewing Government ministers, they made this statement (176) in the final report at:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmtran/692/69209.htm#a48 – with Norfolk being specifically mentioned.

'We urge the DfT to be vigilant in preventing opportunistic attempts to access Congestion TIF funds to support long-standing, controversial and expensive road building programmes'

 

2.      Norwich Green Party warned that Norfolk County Council was considering congestion charging project merely to fund modeling of the NDR as early as July 18^th 2006:

http://www.norwichgreenparty.org/news/060718b.html