ROCHDALE Council leader Councillor Alan Taylor has pledged to support a possible Greater Manchester-wide referendum on congestion charging.

The move comes after Manchester City Council leader, Sir Richard Leese, one of charging’s most vocal supporters, announced he would support a vote providing all 10 authorities in the region support the result.

A referendum could see more than 2.5M people asked to take part in a postal ballot in late October.

That would follow 14 weeks of public consultation carried out on proposals for a peak-time charge in exchange for a £3bn transformation of the region’s buses, trams and trains. It has been estimated it would cost more than £1M to hold.

Cllr Taylor said he would support the process provided it was done in a ‘disciplined’ manner.

He added: "I always said that we should wait for the details of the bid and then put it to the people. I have absolutely no doubt that if the people of Rochdale see the massive improvements to public transport then they will look again at the peak congestion scheme. The problem all along has been that protesters have been shouting so loud that they haven’t actually listened. We will be campaigning vigourously for a ‘yes’ vote as this funding is crucial and will revolutionalise public transport across our region."

"I have always said that we will back a referendum, but only when the full details of the bid are on the table. This has been a three-step exercise. The first stage was putting the bid in, the second stage was to evaluate it to see if it was acceptable and then to consult the people of Greater Manchester. A referendum on this issue should be the central part of this as long as it is done in a diciplined manner and all 10 authorties agree to abide by the result."