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How they cooked the books on WEZ consultation
Thursday, 27 November 2008 17:44
The Transport for London report on the Congestion Charge Western Extension says that the consultation shows 'a strong overall preference for the scheme to be removed'. This seems to be is inaccurate.In fact that TfL report on the attitudinal survey of Londoners within the consultation gives the following figures: 45 per cent of people polled want to keep that charge as it is or in some modified form and 41 per cent wish to remove it.
That means that more people want to keep the charge in some form than want to remove it. Thirty per cent of people wanted to keep it as it is, 15 per cent want to change it, at total of 45 per cent, while 41 per cent want to remove it. There may be some double counting as some people who want change may also say they want to keep it or get rid of it, but the report does not quantify this.
The decision to abandon the charge has significance for all Londoners not just those living in Kensington and Chelsea and the small part of Westminster covered by the western extension. According to TfL its removal will cost Londoners about £70 mllion a year. The loss of this income his will have to be made up by cuts in investment or services and/or further fare increases.
Its removal will also in more traffic congestion and a worse environment as the charge has reduced the number of cars entering the area by 30,000 every day.
Londoners will pay dearly for a decision which does not even seem to have the majority support on which it is claimed to be based.
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Hurrah! Londoners are having the Mayor-man they have voted for!! I wonder how, and if Londoners can have a redress before the 4 years TIME-OUT? May be, the Progressives will provide an effective platform to stop Mayor Boris Johnson being able to carry through all or some of his anti-London policy actions.
On the other hand, is Mayor Boris actions not similar to former Mayor Ken Livingstone's hard-of-hearing and lack-of-consultation administration?
Dare Mayor Boris publish the Consultation Report for all Londoners to read?
On the other hand, is Mayor Boris actions not similar to former Mayor Ken Livingstone's hard-of-hearing and lack-of-consultation administration?
Dare Mayor Boris publish the Consultation Report for all Londoners to read?
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November 28, 2008
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Steve Platt makes a similar point on his blog today. He writes:
"Much less well-publicised has been the response to Transport for London’s mini-opinion survey on the subject. This was organised to see how representative the responses to Bojo’s consultation exercise were.
"The answer is: hardly at all. In the TfL survey, only 41 per cent of individuals (out of 2,000 surveyed) favoured getting rid of the western extension and only half of businesses (out of 1,000). Thirty per cent of individuals favoured keeping it as it is and 15 per cent said they would keep it but make changes to the way it operates (such as easing restrictions in the middle of the day).
"On a crude reckoning that makes a 45:41 per cent majority in favour of keeping a modified scheme – which is an odd sort of popular mandate for its abolition. If Bojo goes ahead with getting rid of it – and incurs all the costs of doing so, including the removal of signs and cameras and road marking and all the rest, as well as the estimated £70 million annual revenue loss – let it be clear that it is his decision. He should not be allowed to hide behind some floppy notion of the ‘people’ having spoken."
More here:
http://plattitude.blogspot.com/2008/11/abolishing-congestion-extension-odd.html
Jenny Jones has started a Comment is Free debate on this subject today. Her article is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/28/london-boris
"Much less well-publicised has been the response to Transport for London’s mini-opinion survey on the subject. This was organised to see how representative the responses to Bojo’s consultation exercise were.
"The answer is: hardly at all. In the TfL survey, only 41 per cent of individuals (out of 2,000 surveyed) favoured getting rid of the western extension and only half of businesses (out of 1,000). Thirty per cent of individuals favoured keeping it as it is and 15 per cent said they would keep it but make changes to the way it operates (such as easing restrictions in the middle of the day).
"On a crude reckoning that makes a 45:41 per cent majority in favour of keeping a modified scheme – which is an odd sort of popular mandate for its abolition. If Bojo goes ahead with getting rid of it – and incurs all the costs of doing so, including the removal of signs and cameras and road marking and all the rest, as well as the estimated £70 million annual revenue loss – let it be clear that it is his decision. He should not be allowed to hide behind some floppy notion of the ‘people’ having spoken."
More here:
http://plattitude.blogspot.com/2008/11/abolishing-congestion-extension-odd.html
Jenny Jones has started a Comment is Free debate on this subject today. Her article is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/28/london-boris
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November 28, 2008
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