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Financial Times

Livingstone wins London road-charging case

By Juliette Jowit and Nikki Tait
Published: August 1 2002 5:00 | Last Updated: August 1 2002 5:00

Ken Livingstone's contentious road-charging plans for London were given the green light yesterday when a legal challenge failed in the High Court.

Mr Justice Maurice Kay rejected all claims by Westminster City Council and Kennington Association of residents that the London mayor had failed to consult properly and provided deficient information. "These applications must fail," he said. The judge granted permission to appeal on one limited point of law.

However, Transport for London, the mayor's transport executive, said there were no known remaining barriers to the scheme to charge motorists £5 a day to drive into the city centre from February.

TfL claims the scheme will reduce congestion by 20-30 per cent, and raise £130m a year for public transport. The project, which would use cameras linked to computer databases to record and check the number plates of all vehicles entering a central zone, is more complex than existing schemes in Singapore and Norway, and is being watched by cities across the UK and overseas.

Mr Livingstone said: "Our entire approach to the introduction of congestion charging, which has involved an unprecedented level of consultation, has been vindicated.

"We now look forward to being free to proceed with addressing the problems of congestion in London."

The main challenge raised by Westminster council during the six-day hearing centred on allegations that the mayor had failed fully to consider implications of the scheme for traffic, air quality and visual implications in terms of extra signage and cameras. The council also claimed that the information that it had been supplied, and on which it had to make its case, was deficient.

Councillor Kit Malthouse, deputy leader of Westminster council, said after the hearing: "We are deeply disappointed."

He added: "A major scheme of this nature should not be implemented without effective scrutiny, and we question whether Britain's first congestion charge should be introduced in a complex city such as London."

Motoring organisations also said they were disappointed. The Freight Transport Association, which wants commercial vehicles excluded, said: "The scheme will cost UK industry at least £200m per year in charges, plus all of the bureaucracy."

In a three-hour judgment, Mr Justice Kay ruled against the council on every point, finding that the mayor had consulted adequately and there had been no legal flaws in the information provided. The judge stressed that his decision was not influenced by, or reflected, the merits of the scheme.

Irving Yass, director of policy at the London First business group, said: "We are pleased congestion charging is not being delayed . . but this charge must be accompanied by other measures to keep traffic moving."

© Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2002.

(posted 7911 days ago)

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