Road cuts remove need for new taxes
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THE reduction of £122m. in road expenditure over the next two years announced last week has drawn strong protests from operators, industry and local authorities. And the Road Haulage Association has pointed out that the cuts remove the only excuse— which in any case was not very strong—for the new taxes on road transport which are proposed in the Transport Bill.
Says the RHA: "The Minister of Transport should withdraw these tax proposals immediately." The Association's statement goes on:- "The Government has failed to appreciate that the present difficult economic situation could be better helped by an acceleration rather than a cut-back in the road building programme. Time and again the crucial part played by an expanding road programme has been emphasized from all quarters. The Minister of Transport herself said as recently as October last: 'We need new roads not just to replace the old ones but as lifelines of regional development to stimulate new patterns of industry and to prevent whole areas being by-passed by economic development."
The British Road Federation called the road cuts "pointless and irrelevant to the real economic problems that the country is facing" and stressed that roads had once again been singled out to bear the heaviest share of a reduction in domestic expenditure.
The Greater London Council weighed in with the comment from its highways and traffic committee chairman, Mr. Robert Vigars, that it seemed a false economy to cut investment which was vital to improved efficiency.
The Transport Bill itself is meanwhile drawing new protests. It is understood that the Little Neddy for the movement of exports will tell the Minister of Transport of its concern that the effect on export prices would be serious, and that plans for road carriage of freight to ports would be seriously upset by the switch-to-rail proposals.
Next Wednesday the Northern Division of the Traders Road Transport Association is sending a deputation to meet the Northern group of MPs to protest at the damaging effects of quantity licensing, haulage taxes and new restrictions on driving hours on trade and industry in the North.
The MPs will be told of fears that existing industry will be prevented from expanding, new industry will be detered from entering areas where it is needed, and unemployment will ensue.