C-Charge Bid Must Take Climate Change Seriously

6.54.00pm GMT Thu 1st Nov 2007

Carbon reduction targets for the Cambridgeshire congestion charge scheme have been condemned as weak by Liberal Democrats on the County Council.

During the full meeting of Cambridgeshire County Council today, Liberal Democrat opposition councillors described the Council's statements on carbon reduction as 'grossly misleading' and criticised the lack of information on new bus routes in the proposals.

Councillor Alex Reid commented:

"The County Council's carbon reduction claims in the congestion charge bid are grossly misleading. The County Council claims that the scheme will produce reductions in line with Kyoto targets, yet it will come in after Kyoto targets end in 2010.

"The scheme's weak target of just 16% reduction in carbon emissions from transport in Cambridge by 2021 is only half of the target reduction in the Government's Climate Change Bill. For the Cambridge Sub-Region as a whole, the scheme's target of 1% reduction is less than a twentieth of the target reduction in the Climate Change Bill. It is nonsense to describe the County Council's target reductions as being in line with anything.

"The County Council must produce a proper alternative that addresses climate change seriously. We need real incentives for low emission vehicles and higher charges for gas guzzlers."

Lib Dem Transport, Environment and Climate Change spokesperson, Judy Broadway, added:

"If this scheme is to do any good at all it should make a major contribution to reducing carbon emissions. The County Council needs to be much more ambitious in terms of emissions reduction; the current proposals are simply weak.

"We also need to hear much more from the County Council about how public transport will be massively improved. The bid to Government included very little about new bus routes and so many areas will be left without a decent bus service.

"The Park and Ride buses will apparently travel almost non-stop to the city centre which is of no help to those who work or shop elsewhere in Cambridge. Buses will only be attractive to users if they stop close to where they want to go and are regular, reliable and cheap to use."