John McGoldrick of the National Alliance Against Tolls claims Halton Council has “lost the plot” on tolling the Silver Jubilee Bridge

May 21 2009 by Mark Smith, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

AN ANTI-TOLLING organisation says Halton Council has ‘lost the plot’ over the Mersey Gateway and accused project chiefs of ‘obscuring the issues’ over tolls.

In a stinging statement delivered on the first day of the public inquiry, John McGoldrick of The National Alliance Against Tolls also accused bosses of ‘nipping opposition in the bud’.

He also claimed that imposing tolls on the existing Silver Jubilee bridge would be an unprecedented step.

He said: “The proposals represent the first ever imposition of a toll on a free bridge.

“Halton will be the first local authority in Britain where you will not be able to move from one side to the other without paying a toll tax.”

He added: “The council has completely lost the plot.

“A new bridge was originally intended to improve communications and remove any constraint on cross river travel.

“Instead, when the bridge opens, the result of tolling is that there will actually be less traffic across the river than there is now with only one bridge.

“One would perhaps have expected mass protests from local residents, business and bridge users, but the promoters of this scheme have gone to great lengths to obscure the issues and nip the opposition in the bud.

“Is the lack of mass protests because people support the council’s plans?

“Or is it because of the success of the authorities and their public relations firms, in mesmerising people with the artist’s impressions of a new bridge, thus distracting them from the facts – facts which are hard to come by.”