Pay to drive your car into the city

MOTORISTS face being hit with a congestion charge for entering Scotland’s towns and cities under a controversial new roads shake-up.

In a blow to drivers, the Scottish Government will ask council chiefs to consider introducing the charges to help make shopping streets more pedestrianfriendly.

It wants every local authority to draw up a blueprint listing measures to revive their town centres.

Ministers are also considering if more pedestrianised areas and a further roll-out of 20mph zones will help improve shopping districts.

Drivers in London are already forced to pay £11.50 to enter city centre areas under the congestion charge brought in there 11 years ago.

But any attempt to introduce similar schemes in Scotland will prove highly controversial, after residents in Edinburgh resoundingly rejected proposals for such a charge in 2005. Hugh Bladon, of the Alliance of British Drivers, said: ‘It’s a stupid idea and all they are trying to do is force people to use public transport.

‘It is an absurd anti-motoring stance some people are taking and it is time they got to grips with themselves and acknowledged that people have cars and want to use them.

‘If you have a car, you are already paying for it through taxation, so why not use it?’

The Scottish Government has commissioned a team of experts, headed by architect Malcolm Fraser, to investigate ways of reviving city centres.

Its draft report recommends a ‘masterplanning toolkit’ containing measures such as congestion charging, bus lanes, 20mph zones and further pedestrianisation.

Tory transport spokesman Alex Johnstone said: ‘Previous attempts to introduce conges- tion charges in Scotland proved a total disaster.

‘It is an absurd idea and should be kicked into the longest grass as soon as possible.’

When the City of Edinburgh Council asked voters to decide if whether congestion charging should be introduced in 2005, more than 74 per cent said no.

However, in the decade that followed, motorists in the

‘It should be kicked into the long grass’

capital have seen their parking charges and residential permit fees soar.

Professor Stephen Glaister of the RAC Foundation, said: ‘This will be a tough sell and the Scottish Government will be happy that it is councils and not the parliament that has to push these measures through. Driv- ers will baulk at the idea of paying yet more money to get about but the hard truth is that traffic and traffic jams are forecast to increase.

‘The big question is what happens to the cash. In London it is ring-fenced for transport schemes. If motorists can be convinced their travelling lives will improve, then there’s a chance they’ll accept change.’

A Scottish Government spokeswoman confirmed that a planning ‘toolkit’ was being developed, adding: ‘The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce congestion charges or mandatory pedestrian zones in town centres. Local communities will make decisions for their town centres based on local circumstances.

‘The Scottish Government will not be prescriptive on what measures should be taken to meet local needs but will help to create the right conditions to facilitate action for town centre regeneration.’