Boris Johnson will later today confirm the complete scrapping of the western extension zone (WEZ) of the congestion charge from Christmas Eve. It’ll be part of a “mini Comprehensive Spending Review” announcement by Boris in which the implications of the cuts to London’s budget announced by the Government will be spelt out.
The congestion charge for the remaining central zone is expected to rise to £10 a day (or £9 if paid through a new automated payment channel.) There will also be above-inflation fare rises on public transport and some cuts in services.
This is likely to be widely welcomed in Shepherd's Bush after the Green turned into a car park the day after it was introduced as vehicles skirted the zone. But what really riled many Bushers was the fact that previous Mayor Ken Livingstone completely ignored the express wish of west Londoners, revealed in a consultation vote, and pressed ahead with the scheme anyway.
We'll wait and see how that plays politically, but along with the scrapping of the M4 bus lane this is likely to do Boris no harm at all. Which might explain why he waited so damned long to get round to doing it - even attacks from our own Council didn't succeed in getting him to pull his finger out - but forthcoming elections tend to have that effect on politicians.
No comments:
Post a Comment