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Firm slates unfair road pricing project
Nov 16 2005
By Campbell Docherty, Transport Correspondent
The managing director of one of Birmingham's biggest firms has raised concerns that a road pricing pilot will damage the region's competitiveness.
Glyn Jones, managing director of Palletline UK - whose distribution centre is based Erdington - said road pricing in just one area of the country would represent a disincentive to businesses to set up operations or remain in the region at all.
The West Midlands is seen as a front runner to pilot the Government's road user charging system.
"The existence of road pricing in one area, when others are not affected, is likely to be a serious disincentive for a business to set up or continue operations in that area."
Palletline consists of 58 member companies and makes more than 8,000 palletised deliveries a day.
The seven West Midlands district authorities are waiting to hear if they have been successful in a bid for more than £1 million to carry out a feasibility study before bidding to be named the pilot region.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has promised millions of pounds in extra transport investment as an incentive for the successful pilot region.
A spokesman for the seven authorities said: "Keeping the West Midlands competitive is at the heart of our desire to tackle the congestion that is costing more than £2.5 billion a year."
Meanwhile, a consultation exercise is underway asking for people's views on transport plans in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands.
Leaflets will be delivered to more than 800,000 households asking for views on the West Midlands' Provisional Local Transport Plan which includes a commitment to consider road pricing.
The LTP sets more than £1 billion worth of measures to reduce traffic congestion, improve public transport and make the best use of the roads and rail network across all seven district areas in the West Midlands.
