Battling over Heathrow ‘monster’ will escalate as key Labour rebels join Tory Mayor and high profile Lib Dems in opposing expansion – and promoting a new airport in Thames Estuary

UPDATE 15.01.09: Decision at last but no surprises. “The Secretary of State confirms policy support for adding a third runway at Heathrow with additional passenger terminal facilities and a slightly longer runway”. Go here for full statement, get ready for battle to begin in earnest – or perhaps have a cup of tea instead…

There are two things about the Heathrow ‘monster‘ and its expansion – as veteran anti airport and roads campaigner John Stewart sees it, that all commentators agree on. PM Gordon Brown will this week formally give the go-ahead for the hugely controversial plan to expand the airport with a 3rd runway plus 6th terminal – and that such a decision is set to escalate fighting over the controversial plan. But although all commentators from the Guardian to the Telegraph fully agree about these aspects of what’s next, politicians’ opinions are significantly more divided – and in ways that a reveal critical splits inside Brown’s Labour government and rapid growth in cross-party opposition. Fuelled with reports of ‘bullying‘ and ‘bluffing‘ by aviation chiefs – the forces opposed to expansion are gathering an extraordinary range of political supporters. The expanding range of allies amassing to oppose Gordon Brown and fellow ‘yes’ men includes current cabinet members and former Labour minister Nick Raynsford, Conservative mayor Boris Johnson and former glamour model and The Sun Page 3 girl Marina Pepper (Ne Baker). An equally diverse group has mustered in support of the plan as the Future Heathrow group. This includes; Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of business group London First, CBI director-general Richard Lambert and TUC deputy general secretary Frances O’Grady. TC notes that many including Mayor Johnson have grave doubts that the 3rd runway would ever be built, regardless of the forthcoming decision by PM Brown. But TC also notes that support for a brand new airport on the mud flats of the Thames Estuary may currently unite the Conservative Mayor and former Labour minister for London Nick Raynsford – but that the chances of that ever happening could be even less likely than Heathrow expansion or the prospect of building a manufacturing plant in the Thames for the production of chocolate teapots.

Permalink | Comments (23) Posted in About, What’s happening | Labels: Baroness Jo Valentine, Boris Johnson, Gordon Brown, Hacan Clearskies, John Stewart, Marina Baker, Marina Pepper, Nick Raynsford, Page 3, The Sun
12th January 2009 by Leon Mannings

Motorbikes in London bus lanes sparks predictable reactions, but why is the full report on the previous TfL trial still missing?

Riders of scooters and motorcycles will be allowed to use most Red Route bus Lanes in London from now onwards in an 18 month trial of the measure. This move by TfL Chair and London Mayor Boris Johnson follows years of rows over the merits and pitfalls of a safety measure that has been successfully deployed in 17 UK cities – and in various other nations throughout the world including ultra safety conscious Sweden. The move is welcomed by motorcycling groups and attracts varying degrees of hostility from cycling lobbyists , while the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) reports a couple safety benefit facts first and the feelings of opponents second. TC notes that this latest new trial scheme follows another three year TfL trial which formally ended in 2006. It is also worth noting that this measure has been introduced on a trial basis in many locations throughout the world but that not one of them has ever been withdrawn. This fact offers a clear indication that the net results of this measure on safety are positive – and for all vulnerable road users. It is, after all, difficult to believe that such a measure would be maintained anywhere if there was hard evidence that it increased casualties among pedestrians and cyclists. Unfortunately for all concerned the full results from the preceding three year TfL trial have never been formally published by TfL or the Mayor. The report on that study was subjected to a two year period of internal wrangling at TFL. A final version of the report was signed off by TFL in September 2008, and submitted to the previous Mayor. But Mayor Livingstone’s key adviser, named Kevin Austin by the Evening Standard, sent the report back to TFL with orders to remove two thirds of the document that mostly contained evidence indicating safety benefits for all vulnerable road users. This action behind the scenes also coincided with a public decision by former Mayor Ken Livingstone (prior to losing his job in May) that he would not allow motorbike access to bus lanes. TC can confirm that the full TfL report was seen by Boris’s advisors prior to his election and that it informed his decision to go-ahead with this latest trial. Strangely, the full report is still unpublished – which begs a fulsome question raised in the Telegraph a year ago – and TC wonders if this has anything to do with the another strange fact. The former Red Ken advisor who insisted that only a cut version of the report could be published is still in City Hall and guiding his new Blue boss and his new boss’s new advisors…

Permalink | Comments (1) Posted in About, What’s happening | Labels: Boris Johnson, London bus lane, motorbike bus lane trial, motorbikes in bus lanes, TFL, TFL Chair
5th January 2009 by Leon Mannings

Eerie silence as Road Pricing Golden key is laid to RIP and UK ‘experts’ see charge plan crash and face need for new way to go

Congestion Charging aka Road Pricing was the golden key to solving UK transport problems until last week. It would cut traffic congestion and be a rich new source of funding for public transport and schemes to encourage cycling and walking. And, it was also an essential tool in a box of measures to save the planet. Well that was according to the theories that have been in political vogue since the 1990s. But in practice, the road pricing ‘solution’ had its final and most catastrophic crash into the barriers of public opinion in Manchester last Friday – and all meaningful hope for promoting it died. But why has this momentous ending slipped by with barely a mention in the mainstream media and a deafening silence from the pro-charging experts who have been loved by governments since the 1990s? The BBC thought the highlight of this end of a policy theory era was a ‘lack of drama’. Our vogue theorists and commentators could be staying schtum out of shock and respect over the end of their much espoused dream and plans to price people out of out of cars. But what is the true cause of the pervading silence? Could it be that speculative spats over the distant prospect of extra airport runways in London are already more important subjects for attention than a collapse of the core idea in UK transport strategy? This seems so for The Times front page and it’s eco-protest friend and transport correspondent Ben Webster. Yesterday, news of rows over expanding Gatwick, Stanstead and Heathrow airports was splashed across the first and second pages of the Thunderer – as it used to be known before its reporting of transport issues became a little more like an anti-motorised transport drone. But is the latest news about runways really more important than the end of the Congestion Charging road in Britain? No. In practice, animated opposition to airport expansion gets more coverage but is far less significant to the future of UK transport and government response to demand for progress. The real driver behind the silence at the end of the road pricing dream is a far more powerful force. In practice, those who are supposed to tell us and government how to solve UK transport problems are now stuck in a vacuum – and have no idea what needs to happen next. The primary emphasis of UK transport policy over the last two decades has been on constraining use of the modes that facilitate 85% of all passenger travel in Britain and 65% of all freight movements. And, among cash strapped politicians and vogue theorists, the most popular measures for imposing such constraint all involve increasingly sophisticated schemes to price people out of private vehicles on public roads – and create new revenue streams into government coffers. But we now all have bigger than ever problems as a result of reliance on this emphasis. First, Manchester proved once and for all that the great British public will not accept any transport plans that include Road Pricing. A huge majority has yet again said ‘No’ to government plans for them to pay more tax to use the roads they have already paid vastly more to have maintained and improved than actually gets spent on doing so. The only route for politician’s to go forward with road pricing now, in Britain and probably everywhere else, is to take a leaf out of Livingstone’s book on democracy and simply ignore the views of the majority as he did to go-ahead with the Western extension of London’s Congestion Charging zone. But even the weakest visioned politician can see what happened to him and his extension in the end. The biggest problem however is that we in Britain are facing future development of transport policy being led by a generation of politicians, vogue theorists and policy professionals who are inculcated with a belief that constraining car use is the only way to improve transport for all – but they are now facing the stark reality that their key mechanism for tying to achieve that goal has irrevocably broken down. Fortunately there is hope for the majority of us because constraining travel by motorised modes is not the only way forward. Cutting congestion problems by improving traffic flow is eminently achievable, does not require mass road building programs and is relatively cheap. But doing so will involve fresh thinking and taking new directions for future plans and schemes…

Permalink | Comments (1) Posted in About, What’s happening | Labels: airport, BBC Transport, Ben Webster, Congestion charging, Gatwick, Heathrow, London airport, Road Pricing, Stanstead, Transport in The Times
19th December 2008 by Leon Mannings

Road Pricing plan for UK in shreds as 79% reject Manchester TIF scheme and signal need for truly acceptable new solutions

UK Government backed plans for the biggest Congestion Charging scheme in the world were rejected by the biggest percentage of ‘No’ votes ever registered against a Road Pricing proposal in Britain. Leon Mannings of TC.com suggests though that the results reveal two critical issues that require urgent and sharply focused consideration. The political impact of this ‘local’ decision on a specific scheme will, however, be nationwide and clearly establishes the extent of public ‘acceptability’ of tackling traffic congestion with extra road user charges on top of existing motoring taxes, that currently include; VAT, Vehicle Excise Duty and Fuel Duty. – Not to mention the tax already paid on the money used to pay road use related excise and duty. In effect and as predicted by TC.com, plans to spread Road Pricing schemes in Britain were crushingly rejected by the public of Greater Manchester – although the scale of defeat for the central government backed grand plan is beyond all expectations including here. This clearly brings progress of UK Road Pricing plans crashing to a grinding halt – but the results of voting also reveal an equally critical issue by recording the huge size of gaps between widespread political support for such measures and public opinion of them. The total of 79% ‘No’ voters shows the scale of public rejection to the whole concept road pricing. But the results also showed that over 70% of voters in every Greater Manchester borough did not want Congestion Charges, aka Road Pricing, even though seven out of ten Manchester borough council leaders had pledged their authority’s support for the proposals. And lest we forget, several key supporters of the Manchester TIF plan vigorously rejected calls for a referendum as in their view it was not necessary… Now though, the referendum results show that seven out of ten elected leaders were either pledging their authority’s support for a road pricing scheme – despite knowing that the vast majority of their constituents were not in favour – or were completely out of touch with public opinion and wrong about the real views of the people they are supposed to represent.

Permalink | Comments (0) Posted in About, What’s happening | Labels: Congestion Charge, Leon Mannings, Road Pricing, TIF
12th December 2008 by Leon Mannings

Manchester can lead the C-Charge way but does falling traffic make it right to be cynical about Road Pricing scheme value?

Conflict escalates between key advocates and opponents of Manchester’s C-Charge as D-Day looms for the plan and the last salvos fly from heavyweight letter writing brigades. The pro corner are espousing a ‘yes’ vote to the TIF proposals in the Guardian. They say this will deliver a “state-of-the-art transport system, help to tackle congestion, climate change and air pollution, and make Greater Manchester a better place to live, work and do business”. ‘They’ are; Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth, Anita Goldsmith, Greenpeace, Stephen Joseph, Campaign for Better Transport and Mikis Euripides, Asthma UK. TC notes that what they say sounds lovely at least in theory, but that there is another way of looking at this situation in practice… The opposing corner say the package is “not worthy of Britain’s second city”. They say that editorial comments in the Financial Times about the principle of road pricing have merit “but only a limited relevance in Manchester where volumes of traffic on arterial roads, far from being chronic, are actually falling” and that 20 % of 460,000 people, on average net pay of £15,000 a year, would “incur a daily charge of £6″. And, “every taxpayer will also be expected to take on a share of a £1.2bn, 30-year debt without any guarantees that congestion-charging revenues will pay this back” – and for benefits that would be “so thinly spread as to be worthless”. The ‘they’ in this corner are a cross party group of local MPs; Graham Stringer, Labour, Manchester Blackley, Graham Brady, Conservative, Altrincham and Sale, Andrew Gwynne, Labour, Denton and Reddish Andrew Stunell, Liberal Democrat, Hazel Grove. TC notes the value in claimed benefits according to vogue Road Pricing scheme theory – but still believes that the majority of Mancunians will feel right to be cynical and vote accordingly this Friday.

Permalink | Comments (0) Posted in About, What’s happening | Labels: Altrincham and Sale, Andrew Gwynne, Anita Goldsmith, Asthma UK, Campaign for Better Transport and Mikis Euripides, Conservative, Denton and Reddish Andrew Stunell, Friends of the Earth, Graham Brady, Graham Stringer, Greenpeace, Hazel Grove, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Manchester Blackley, Stephen Joseph, Tony Bosworth
8th December 2008 by Leon Mannings