‘Road pricing is a short cut to ruin’

Nov 28, 2007

David R. Jones, Daily Post

COMPANIES in North Wales say any move to introduce road pricing could drive some firms out of business.

The Welsh Assembly Government may tax drivers on some of the more crowded trunk roads in North Wales in a bid to reduce congestion.

Details of which routes could be included in initial schemes have yet to be published but it is believed the A55 – the main road artery across North Wales – and the A483 near Wrexham are prime candidates.

Drivers nationally could be asked to stump up anything from 2p a mile to a maximum of £1.40 a mile, but the charges could well be lower at less busy times of the day and night. And many quieter roads will escape the tolls altogether.

But it is already clear that some businesses in the region will strongly oppose any move by the WAG to bring in the charges.

Mike Learmond, North Wales organiser for the Federation of Small Businesses, Britain's biggest business organisation, said: “We are against all forms of road pricing which we regard as a stealth tax and we will be vigorous in our opposition to that.

“Apart from anything else, if you put a toll on use of the A55, what alternative will motorists have? It’s not like the M6 where motorists have the choice of the new toll road. Recently we have seen lots of motorists trying to circumnavigate roadworks at Abergwyngregyn and getting into terrible problems on minor roads around small villages.”

Mr Learmond said he did not think traffic congestion in North Wales was as bad as in other parts of the UK.

However, he conceded that the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait was a bottleneck for east-west traffic in the region.

He added that small businesses in rural areas of North Wales were already paying higher fuel costs than those in more urban areas and that imposition of charges to drive on roads in the area might be the last straw for some.

Town centre businesses were also under pressure from spiralling car parking charges and over-zealous enforcement of parking regulations, and to add to the cost of getting into towns would only force more people to shop online.

“Small shopkeepers have been under extreme pressure from rising business rates and other costs and road pricing will be the final nail in the coffin for some,” he added.

Employers organisation the CBI believes that road pricing could be part of a wider strategic approach and package of measures to tackle congestion. It said such charges must not deflect attention from the need for vital infrastructure improvements and the focus must be on ensuring a better deal for road users.

Wales CBI deputy chairman David Catherall said that while road pricing might be inevitable, the organisation was keen to work with the government to make sure any such scheme was workable. He said: “We are concerned that it will just become another layer of administration and tax without delivering the benefits that are intended.

“The idea being put forward by the UK government is without real detail at the moment, but it seems they are advocating using a scheme being introduced in Germany which is proving to be very expensive, over-complicated and, frankly, a disaster.”

A Welsh Assembly Government spokesman said: “There are no plans for road pricing in Wales. Welsh Ministers have yet to decide what role, if any, road pricing may play in addressing transport challenges. They do however wish to have the powers available to allow them to adopt a coherent approach towards any future proposals within Wales or any future UK scheme.”

Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan claimed last week that the scheme would be disastrous for the Welsh economy. She said: “A Wales-wide road pricing scheme could cripple the economy and damage tourism. There’s also no guarantee the money raised will be injected back into boosting the country’s transport infrastructure.”

But Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said Welsh Assembly Government Ministers had asked for the powers to tax motorists to raise more money for road improvements.

The Road Users’ Alliance said two million people in the UK signed an e-petition earlier this year calling on the government to scrap any road pricing plans.

But the RUA added that a British Chambers of Commerce survey showed businesses would be most likely to support road pricing if it replaced fuel duty and road taxes.

Research by the Department of Transport highlighted some of the discrepancies in public opinion on road user charging. Although more than half of respondents thought taxation should be changed so people are charged when and where they use roads, only a third felt road pricing would be fair. Only three in 10 thought road pricing would be effective in reducing congestion.

THE RUA’s Road File 2007/08 said Wales had 1.4m cars and 179,000 goods vehicles – 5.2% of all vehicles in the UK – in 2006.

It quoted the Eddington Transport Study which estimated that eliminating congestion on the road network in the UK could be worth £8bn in GDP annually.