‘Charge could turn area into ghost town’

‘OUTSIDERS’ MAY HAVE TO PAY UP TO £5.50 TO DRIVE INTO LONDON

THE controversial plan to charge non-Londoners travelling into the city could have a “detrimental impact” to west London and leave it as a “ghost town”, a top businessman has warned.

Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce chair Mike Langan said the move would be kicking businesses when they are down and hit the borough hard as an outer London region.

A journey from the village of Denham, in Buckinghamshire, to Uxbridge, for example, is just eight minutes by car.

Under plans unveiled by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, a Greater London Boundary Charge could be introduced for non-residents such as £3.50 a day, as a way to meet Transport for London’s financial challenges. It could be £5.50 for the most polluting vehicles.

However, Mr Langan said: “Our initial thoughts are that it’s a stupid thing for a mayor to bring in because it’s going to deter people coming into London.

“We are going to be badly affected by this boundary charge – it doesn’t make sense to me.

“London needs people to come into it to survive. This is a negative thing – if we are going to raise taxes [do it] in a different way rather than penalising everybody.”

Mr Langan also believes there will be a particular blow for business estate Stockley Park as businesses outside of London would be torn to choose between there and enterprise hub Slough.

“What would happen is Slough would win each time,” he added.

Heathrow is also a major employer in the borough which has high numbers of employees living outside of the capital.

Questions that remain over the policy for employers include who is going to cover the cost of the travel charge, and where will the money raised go.

Mr Langan added: “Sadiq has got to understand he’s got to look after the business community as well as the residents.”

According to Mr Khan, the charge proposed comes as an alternative way to raise cash if the Government does not allow London to keep the £500 million raised each year from a vehicle excise duty paid by city drivers. He believes the money collected from Londoners is used by ministers to spend “almost exclusively” outside of the capital, and the new border tax would be reinvested into London’s transport network, help reduce emissions and manage congestion.

Mr Khan said: “If ministers aren’t prepared to play fair, then we will need to consider other options to address this unfairness, such as asking people who live outside London and make journeys into Greater London by car to pay a modest charge, which would be reinvested in London’s transport network. As the independent review shows, we can’t go on expecting public transport fare-payers to subsidise the costs of road maintenance.”

However, Hillingdon Conservatives have launched a petition to stop the ‘outer London tax’ from going ahead, fearing it will also hit family and friends visiting the borough. Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner MP David Simmonds was among a group of 24 MPs to write to Mr Khan earlier this month urging him to scrap the “damaging proposal”.

He said: “Those who live near the border of Greater London will now face the prospect of a £31 charge to travel across the border.

“This will be detrimental to our community and local businesses, and it is unfair to all those who work in and use our local shops, schools and healthcare services.

“The mayor will shortly enter into negotiations with the DfT on a fresh bailout package for TfL. However, it is unacceptable that he should enter these negotiations while trying to make the threat of these extreme measures.” By ANAHITA HOSSEIN-POUR