Royal Borough congestion charge idea dismissed by committee

Proposals for a congestion charging scheme have been thrown out by the Royal Borough’s Policy Committee.

The suggestion was raised at the panel’s meeting on Thursday by Cllr Colin Rayner (Con, Horton and Wraysbury), who said, whether or not congestion charging was the answer, it was at least necessary to begin a discussion on how to address growing traffic issues in the borough.

He said: “The biggest issue we have is congestion – that’s my biggest complaint.

“I love the car, we need the car and we need the car in our town centres.

“But we also need a plan to get us through the next 15 years.

“Is it the answer or is it not the answer.”

He cited London and Durham, in the North East, as examples which had successfully adopted congestion charges.

But the idea was not well received by other members of the committee, with Cllr Jack Rankin (Con, Castle Without) calling it a ‘terrible idea’.