Bury Liberal Democrats have reacted to the news that £1.4bn transport investment in Greater Manchester which has been made despite the rejection of congestion charging in last year’s referendum.
Speaking after news of the investment was made public, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesman for Bury North, Cllr Richard Baum, said “The fact that these improvements to transport are happening without a congestion charge finally exposes the pro-charge campaign’s key message as a complete lie. They said that there was no Plan B, but there obviously was and this is it.”
Bury Lib Dems led the fight against congestion charging, securing Council backing for their motion rejecting the charge. Cllr Baum continued “The whole c-charge idea wasted millions of pounds of public money for absolutely no reason. Not only was the proposal hugely expensive and riddled with flaws, it now turns out to have been totally unnecessary.”
Cllr Baum gave a cautious welcome to the extra money, but warned that there were still many unanswered questions to resolve. “£1.4bn into Greater Manchester is great news. But we should remember that this is our taxpayers’ money to begin with, trying to make up for decades of under-investment. This new package still doesn’t give Bury what it needs. We will still have an inadequate bus service, an expensive tram service, and little in the way of incentives for cycling and walking. The government are giving us back some of our money, but nowhere near enough.”
“I also have concerns about the deal that’s been done to get this funding. There will be Council Tax increases to pay for it, and all local Councils in Greater Manchester have had to give up a large part of the local transport grant which could have been directed to local schemes. The government are giving with one hand and taking away with the other. And none of this has come before Bury Council for a vote or even a discussion. Once again the people of Bury are being ignored by the government. Our Council Tax will pay for a bypass in Wigan and a busway in Leigh, and whilst these are welcome schemes, the Councillors of Bury have been denied their say once again.”