Scrap the extension say residents
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
03/10/2008
In the last week of the Mayor of London’s consultation on the western extension of the congestion zone (WEZ), residents flocked to Hammersmith Town Hall to have their say.
In a show of hands, the overwhelming majority of Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) residents wanted to ditch the WEZ and gave the Mayor of London a real indication of how his capital-wide consultation could turn out.
The result tallies with an online poll run by the council earlier this year where, out of 553 votes cast, 79 per cent voted to remove the charge.
West Londoners are just the people the Mayor has said he ‘particularly’ wants to hear from.
Councillor Nicholas Botterill, H&F Council Deputy Leader, chaired the meeting. He said: “The vast majority of local residents have consistently said they want this failed experiment to be consigned to the history books. This council was against the extension before it was imposed, we are opposed to it now and we will continue to push for it to be scrapped.”
The £123 million scheme was launched in the face of major public opposition in February 2007.
The West London Residents Association fought with the council against the WEZ and its Chairman, Gordon Taylor, spoke at the meeting. He said: “Congestion in London is back to square one. The WEZ should be consigned to the dustbin of history in the shortest possible time.”
Environmental campaigner Jenny Jones spoke in favour of retaining the extension and actually called for it to be extended across London, even Britain. She said: “No one has a right to drive a car.”
Speakers from the floor spoke against the extension. The main arguments for dismantling the zone included the fact that:
- It is not working: H&F has the most congested roads in the capital and in central London congestion is now back to pre-C-charge zone levels.
- It is West London’s invisible ‘Berlin Wall’: Families unable to pay the tax on drivers have been cut off from relatives and vital services, like hospitals and schools.
- It stifles local trade: Businesses like florists, estate agents and dry cleaners, have complained about being cut off from customers as they cannot afford the £8 daily levy.
- It is not fair: Residents inside the zone get a 90 per cent discount to travel into central London with H&F residents paying full price.
- It clogs parking bays: Statistics prove commuters are dropping cars off around tube stations in H&F before finishing their journey into the zone.
- It is an inefficient tax: 50 per cent of the revenue raised is spent on running the scheme and experts predict that if the WEZ is scrapped the net revenue loss to TfL would only be £8million.
Cllr Botterill added: “We are approaching D-Day for the C-charge and the amateurs who dabbled with this failed attack on Londoners need to hear the message from residents loud and clear. We did not ask for it. It has not worked. And it needs to be removed.”
The Mayor of London is expected to make a decision on the future of the WEZ before Christmas.
» Watch the video of the public meeting on h&f:tv (opens new window)
