The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) will meet at Dukinfield Town Hall to decide on the next step in the bid to the Department for Transport for cash from its Transport Innovation Fund - which will leaed to £3bn of public transport improvements.
Manchester City Council yesterday became the eighth council to back the idea and AGMA has already decided that it will make the bid on a majority decision.
Conservative-controlled Trafford is the only authority to oppose the plan. Stockport has not yet finished a consultation with its residents and has delegated the vote at the meeting to its chief executive.
Sir Richard Leese, city council leader, who will chair the AGMA meeting, said: "If we do nothing to improve our transport, we will lose 30,000 of the 210,000 jobs due to come to Greater Manchester in the next 15 years.
"This is not an option. We need to make this bid to the Transport Innovation Fund to improve our roads and trams, get more control over buses and trains, and improve life for everyone living and investing in our city region.
Improvements
"However, let me reiterate - there can be no charging until improvements in public transport are in place."
A six-week public consultation has been carried out and a survey by polling experts GfK NOP showed that 69 per cent of people and 60 per cent of businesses in Manchester wanted the bid to be submitted.
Earlier in the week, the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce announced the result of its own survey of businesses which showed that 57 per cent were against the bid in its present form after one of the biggest responses it had ever had.
Eighty per cent believed the Government would introduce a national road pricing scheme in the future and 53 per cent felt congestion charging was a price worth paying for reduced jams on the road if linked to guaranteed public transport improvements.
Angie Robinson, Chief Executive of the Chamber, said: "This is another important piece of information relating to the debate on congestion, public transport and congestion charging. We had a massive response to the survey, which shows how important this issue is for our members. More than 600 members replied which is one of the highest responses we've ever had.
"The survey confirms the heavy dependence of business on the road network and the fact that for many congestion is costing them money."
If the AGMA members vote to carry on, the bid has to go in by the end of July and the government will decide by December if Greater Manchester has beaten West Midlands and eight smaller authorities.
But it is expected to be five years before charging starts.
gmfuturetransport.co.uk
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Simon B, www.manchestertolltax.com (26/07/2007 at 07:31)
It constantly goes on about agreement when giving the percentages, even if it is something like ¿43 Percent in favour¿ that means 57 percent disagree.
It very very rarely says something like "60 percent disagreed"
Can MEN please post a link to the survey so everyone can read it please?
Or does MART have to do a simplified condensed version?
And there is no mention anywhere in the survey of the 2 billion pound loan with 30 year payback paid for by the congestion charge.
It seems that they were not told about it.
Why?