The timber industry is backing Freight Transport Association (FTA) calls for a public inquiry into the Greater London Authority’s proposed £5 per day ‘congestion charge’ for vans and lorries operating in the capital.
The FTA’s director for London and the south-east, John Guttridge, says the impact of the scheme on business has been grossly underestimated. ‘Commercial vehicles operate on London streets because they simply must. You cannot deliver pallet loads of goods by taking them onto a bus or the tube!’
His call for commercial vehicles to be exempted from the scheme is endorsed by the timber trade. T Brewer & Co Ltd director Keith Fryer said: ‘Every day we have four lorries going into the middle of London, so that is an extra £20 a day – a cost we would have to pass on to our customers.
‘It is just another tax. They say it is for environmental reasons – but I think it is because they will make money on the back of it.’
John Griffiths, managing director of Alsford Timber Ltd, says the charge could reduce choice for customers as some merchants and suppliers may decide not to go into the zone.
He added: ‘And some companies may choose to send in bigger lorries with bigger loads to minimise costs, which defeats the whole object.’
Roger Latham of James Latham plc said: ‘We deliver by the most economical and environmentally friendly means at our disposal and there is no viable alternative. Building products are a necessity rather than a luxury and the imposition of this charge would have to filter through to those using them.’
