'Wrong scheme at the wrong time' say opponents

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has approved plans to extend the central London congestion charging zone westward to cover most of Westminster and parts of Kensington and Chelsea. The extended zone will become operational in February 2007.

The Mayor also announced that from September 2006 drivers will be able to pay the charge the day after they travel in the zone and that charging hours will end earlier at 6pm, when the new extension comes into effect.

Ken Livingstone said, ‘Extending the existing zone will bring considerable benefits to this area of London. Congestion in the extended zone will be cut by 15-20 per cent. There will be 10-14 per cent less traffic within the zone during charging hours meaning that a vehicle making a journey into and back out of the extended zone would typically save five minutes. We are giving drivers an additional day to pay the charge so that anyone who forgets to pay gets a second chance to do so.’

Liberal Democrat London Assembly transport spokesman, Geoff Pope, said that the Mayor's explanations of why the scheme is necessary made no sense. He pointed out that traffic levels in Kensington and Chelsea had actually been falling for the last six years and that an extension of the scheme into a predominantly residential area would encourage many more motorists to drive into the existing central zone.

He added, "The Mayor's westward extension proposals are the wrong scheme at the wrong time. Mr Livingstone risks damaging his Central Zone scheme, which has been stunningly successful in reducing traffic and congestion, by an extension which is politically driven rather than substance-based."

Mr. Pope said that the Mayor and Transport for London were deliberately keeping quiet about the falling levels of traffic for fear that it would undermine their case for the expansion.

The scheme is proceeding despite 63% of residents being against it as reflected in responses to the consultation.

October 2, 2005