Cambridge residents overturned a proposed congestion charge that could have seen some motorists charged as much as £50-a-day.
The scheme, backed by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) – an executive body of representatives from three councils in Cambridge and surrounding it – never went ahead after 58 percent of residents voted against it.
And even though it was then watered down, the proposals never went ahead, although some residents fear for their businesses regardless as they say there is a “war on motorists”.
The owner of hardware shop Mackays of Cambridge, which has been in the city for over 100 years, has decided to move his business further out of town to avoid any potential future charges, after leading the campaign against the latest attempt by the GCP.
Owner Neil Mackay, 68, told the Telegraph: “We’re quite a large operation and they were proposing charging £10-a-van. Certainly if we were just sitting there [in the zone] we would have been strangled to death.”
“It’s a war on motorists. They’re just not taking no for an answer,” he added after the council announced plans to redesignate dozens of streets in the area in favour of pedestrians, cyclists and buses.
The initial plans proposed a weekday road charge between 7am and 7pm – with some exemptions and discounts, including those on low incomes.
Hundreds of locals took to the streets to campaign against the proposed sustainable travel zone, which would have cost £5 for cars, £10 for light goods vehicles and £50 for heavy goods vehicles per day for driving within the zone.
After 58 percent in a consultation said they would not support the congestion charge, the GCP made some concessions to the scheme.
This included making it only come into effect in the morning peak between 7am and 10am and in the afternoon peak from 3pm to 6pm, and making it so that drivers who registered for the scheme would be entitled to 50 free days.
The motivation for the plans were to fund an expanded and cheaper bus service, as well as improvements to cycling and walking routes.
But they were met with strong opposition.
Unlike London’s Ulez zone, there were no exemptions for low-emission and electric vehicles and staff and patients at Cambridge’s Addenbrooke’s Hospital would have had to pay the fee.
Bridget Smith, the Liberal Democrat leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “The GCP listened to concerns raised about their original Sustainable Travel Zone proposals.
The group also said it noted “with concern” that the Liberal Democrats appeared to be suggesting a “pause”.
It said: “We hope this does not mean it will be resurrected following the next election.”
A spokesman for GCP said: “These were the issues we hoped the package of measures put forward in Making Connections would be able to tackle.
“However, we cannot escape the reality that the support for the Sustainable Travel Zone – which would have generated ring-fenced funds for better and cheaper buses alongside more walking and cycling routes – was not there despite amendments we made to the scheme.”
He added: “We understand without the groundswell of public and political backing for the changes which were being proposed they could not be delivered effectively.”
