It seems to be in the nature of government at all levels to make a mint out of a crisis. Our own small, but infuriating bugbear is the parking in our street. A £20 annual permit entitles you to park on one side only from 8am to 8pm and, naturally, the council has issued three times too many permits. Consequently at 7.55am every Saturday morning – the traffic wardens favoured day to pounce – there’s a parade of yawning bleary-eyed people in pyjamas, dressing gowns and other assorted and occasionally iffy nightwear coming out to move their cars. Those incapable of rousing before 9am are effectively fined £20 for lying-in.
According to those likely to be hit in the timber trade, the proposed congestion charge on traffic in central London will similarly cause grief and cost without solving the problem of too much traffic in too little space. Many see it simply as another stealth tax. Timber and panel products can only be transported in town by road, so firms will have to stump up.
At the same time, the currently proposed charged level seems unlikely to deter private motorists, who will only have to pay on one vehicle, while a business may have to fork out for a fleet of vans and trucks. Consequently companies will still face congestion and be paying more for the privilege of having their vehicles stuck in jams guzzling gas and belching fumes. And, as one merchant said, companies may be forced to make congestion worse by using fewer, but bigger trucks.
Far more sensible, say businesses, is to rack up the charge on car drivers, who can use public transport, and levy a lower rate on essential delivery vehicles, or even exempt them. Traffic would then flow more freely and timber and other businesses and the London economy and environment would all benefit.
If it hasn’t already, perhaps it’s an issue the TTF could raise in its increasingly active government lobbying.
