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Manchester hauliers deride congestion charge decision
Page 8
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By Roanna Avison THE PROPOSAL TO charge HGVs the same as cars to enter the Manchester congestion charge zone has been met with derision in the industry.
Local hauliers say the levy is just another tax on what is an already struggling sector; and it will make no difference to the number of trucks in Greater Manchester.
Last month, the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GIVIPTE) unveiled plans to introduce a congestion charge in the city, but at the time had not considered whether or not to include lorries ('Mystery over HGV charging in Manchester' CM 12 June).
However, it's now been decided that HGVs will be treated the same as cars. If the initiative goes ahead, lorries will be charged £2 when crossing the outer ring and El for the inner ring heading towards the city between 7am and 9.30am, and a time for crossing either the inner or the outer ring while heading out of Manchester between 4pm and 6.30pm.
Charges will be capped at £10 a day for vehicles on multidrop runs, and, until public transport is improved in the area, those entering Trafford Park Industrial Estate could get a 50% reduction.
James Wilkinson, MD at Austin Wilkinson, believes commercial vehicles will need to enter the zone during peak times because clients will still need deliveries. He says: "We will have to increase our rates, and customers will have to pass those costs on to their customers." Mike Lyons, group finance director at AK Worthington, agrees that trucks will have no option but to use the roads at peak times, particularly since the area covered by the congestion zone is so large.
"It's not as if we have an alternative," he says. "We can't send a pallet into Manchester on a tram or a bike."
A spokesman for the GMPTE says that if truck drivers feel they should not have to pay the charge, they need to make their point during the consultation period, which runs until 10 October.
Log on to http://www.gmfuture transport.eo.uk/consultation/ response/ or write to GM Future Transport,c/o GMFIE, 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3B G.
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