Contempt for ‘outsiders’
I HAVE just been reading online your article about the Oxford Road bus lane from the end of the ‘Curry Mile’ to the city centre.
I am one of the 150,000 who have got fined for using it.
I was caught on camera at 09.46 between Hathersage Road and Denmark Road on the way to the Dental Hospital, as my wife had an appointment there. There were lots of cyclists (who do not pay a penny towards maintaining roads but seem to be very well treated by this council) and lots of buses, so if you are stuck behind any of them, one is more concerned on watching for what they are doing than looking for a sign that is telling you what you cannot do.
I have no objection to the idea of bus lanes but do they really need to be from 06.00 to 21.00?
I thought that Councillor Angeliki Stogia in her comments in your article and on the BBC came over as being contemptuous of motorists by suggesting they should update their sat-navs (I have not got one) and should have read all the media notifications. I live in Northwich, we do not get Manchester city council information there, nor do we get much from our own council, Cheshire West, either. Her comments did nothing to encourage outsiders, who she appeared to consider were causing the problems, to come into the city centre to spend their hard-earned cash. She is supposed to be the councillor responsible for skills – one she has not got is encouraging visitors to come to Manchester in their cars. Colin Chambers, Northwich