Local People Urged to Speak Out on Congestion Zone Extension
Vote before consultation ends on January 12
Hammersmith and Fulham residents are being urged to speak out on the future of the Western Extension of the Congestion Charge Zone, or WEZ.
West London Residents Association is warning that if people do not vote in the current consultation over the scrapping of the WEZ - the second of three consultations - the zone might not be scrapped.
Gordon Taylor, Chairman of West London Residents Association, says: " Having voted once to scrap the extension many residents are asking why we have to vote twice more?
" The simple answer is that the legislation governing the GLA was set up this way and has to be followed, so I am encouraging everyone who opposes the WEZ to make their views known yet again."
To spread the word, West London Residents Association will be setting up a stall at the entrance of Kings Mall Shopping Centre in Hammersmith on Saturday, December 19. Shoppers will be able to register their votes by filling in a questionnaire.
In November 2008, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, announced his intention to remove the Western Extension of the Congestion Charging zone after 67% of residents and 86% of businesses said they wanted it removed.
Transport for London then said it would progress the necessary statutory consultations, involving a revision of the Mayor's Transport Strategy and a further statutory consultation on a variation to the Congestion Charging Scheme Order. It noted then that the earliest the Western Extension could be removed was 2010.
The current consulation is over revision of the Mayor's Transport Strategy and Gordon says: "It is still possible the extension might not be scrapped if too few people participate in this consultation."
You can make your voice heard by visiting the Mayor's Help Shape London's Future, the document containing Boris's three strategies for London, and clicking on Have Your Say on the Mayor's Transport Strategy. You can also request a hardcopy of the questionnaire by calling 0800 093 5808.
The closing date for responses is January 12, 2010.
To contact West London Residents Association, email gwhtaylor@yahoo.co.uk
December 14, 2009
