Action Briefing Jun 2003 - Jul 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

West Midlands News

M6 Toll rates announced

Midland Expressway Ltd's announcement in May of the toll rates for the M6 Toll (formerly known as the BNRR) was received with horror from the business community. They will actively charge off HGVs as these cause far more damage to the road surface, incurring higher maintenance costs while ruining the publicly funded road network and leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab.

What started out as a ribbing from the hauliers turned sour when Macquarie Infrastructure Group's Dennis Eagar bragged to the Australian newspaper about how they had shafted the UK and could charge what they liked when they liked without any comeback from government. The debacle worsened when it later emerged that legislation omitted from the concession agreement meant that toll booth workers would be breaking the law by walking on the road from their parked cars to the toll booths!

Amusing as this is, we've still lost 27 miles of greenbelt for a project that won't cut congestion in the West Midlands. We must create a level playing field by breaking our addiction to the private car and really investing in public transport.
With road user charging climbing up the political agenda along with London’s congestion charging and electronic tagging of HGVs, the day cannot be far off when all cars are variably charged to use the road network. West Midlands Friends of the Earth will be at the heart of that debate, using the BNRR fiasco to ensure that we never again fund and build infrastructure in this manner. Visit our BNRR pages or, for their side of the story, try www.m6toll.co.uk/

Chris Crean