The Blue Print of Disaster

At a recent public meeting in Gatley, 70 people crammed into the Farrier to discuss parking, or should I say the abuse of it, on Cambridge Road. Concerned residents brought along accounts and photos of cars left all day, mums with buggies forced to go into the road because of pavement parking, taxis picking up in the road, even air hostesses in full regalia leaving cars – some allegedly even leaving their cars for periods in excess of four weeks! Not to mention driveways being blocked for days on end – utter chaos for those that live near the station.

At the moment, the Big “C” - the Congestion Charge- is being voted on by residents of Greater Manchester. Do we or don’t we pay for the privilege to continue to use our cars to commute around what is proposed – the “World’s Largest Congestion Charge Zone” an area of some 80sq miles.

One point you may wish to consider before placing your “X” on the ballot paper - here in Stockport alone, traffic flow in the Town Centre is reported to be down 5%. More and more our places of work are no longer the City Centre as people migrate towards a home based or out-of-town ethos out of necessity.

Edinburgh, Birmingham, Norwich and even the Cycle City of Cambridge have all said “No” to the proposed introduction in their cities. Greater Manchester will become an even more expensive place to live or work if adopted. The present economy is bad enough – the introduction of congestion charging will further deepen the problem. Businesses will leave, people will migrate and house prices will plunge. So what has this to do with a side road in GatleyVillage?

If the Big “C” is adopted beware – every man and his dog will look for ways to avoid the charge. Gatley & Cheadle, Handforth, Heald Green, Bramhall, any out of zone suburb that has a rail station prepare for the onslaught. They will arrive in their droves, park on pavements, across your drive, leave cars for days on end, shattering your peace and quiet with the slamming of doors, screeching engines, not to mention the thieves that could descend on the areas to target all the cars parked attempting to avoid the charge. Result - utter chaos and total gridlock in the suburbs.

Cambridge Road is the blue print for what will happen on a Borough basis if the Big C is adopted. The Congestion Charge is purported to be the answer to all out transport problems in the future. Untried and untested, I disagree. Remember the Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable.

Cllr Mick Jones
Cheadle & Gatley

This article, by Cllr Mick Jones, was first published by the Stockport Express 03/12/08.