Stop the Council Crazy Plan - affects most Us Fans!!!!!

[cambsno]

The GCP (Greater Corrupt Partnership) has opened a consultation on their road tax plans that will be here in a few years unless we can put enough pressure on to stop it. This is a stealth tax (otherwise why would the Lib Dems in the Longstanton election for SCDC going on now not mention it at all in their flyer despite being supporters of it?)

Basically to go anywhere near town (and that means as soon as you come off A14 town side or Trumpington) and you get hit for £5 a day!! And we know that will soon go up and rather than be a 7/7 charge be 24/7).

This will affect so many people and leave Cambridge in a bad way. For example, why would I pay £5 to shop at Waitrose, I can drive to St Ives instead, so what do you think will happen to the Trumpington store, it will need less staff so job cuts and ultimately closure when head office see's revenue is dropping. Same applies to any shop that you need a car for. Same for pubs, restaurants and many other things.

Some of the things you will now be taxed for are:

1. Hospital - trip to A&E, £5. So when your child breaks an arm playing you really should be getting a bus!!! Or to visit someone in hospital, or to go for a check up. Or even a nurse working long hours
2. Care homes - even worse when someone is at end of life care and you want to visit daily - pay £5 a time
3. Shops - They think paying a tax or getting the bus is the right thing to do to buy your weeks shopping, or to go to a DIY store, or just to shop generally! Guess what, people will move more to online shopping, go to other towns
4. Sporting events - No getting to Cambridge before 7pm as you will be charge £5 to watch a Tues night game (and just wait till this is bought in on a Sat) - Chaos all round the stadium
5. Kids activities - from music lessons, to sports clubs, pay £5 each time your child does it

This is a Labour and Lib Dem led initiative - which is taking money out of ordinary working people when we have much higher prices and cost of living to worry about. Ironic when they criticise the government for this (BTW, I can't stand our government so I am not saying the Tories are the answer).

Maybe this is project Fear but what happens when this goes to £10 a day and the zone gets even bigger to include Histon, Shelford, and who knows where!! If it comes in on a Sat (and it will as people will put off going to town on a weekday and thus Sats will be chaos) that will be over £100 a year to watch Utd on this tax alone, will put people off going.

HGVs and vans will also be hit (up to £50 a day) so guess what, business owners will need to increase prices to pay for this!

No doubt the ultimate plan is for business to fail and places like the retail park bulldozed for more student flats.

Buses will not work in rural areas like many of the villages. consultcambs.uk.engagementhq.com/making-connections-2022 is the survey, please do it before we lose our lovely city!

[Denton]

Oct 18, 2022 8:34:04 GMT cambsno said:

The GCP (Greater Corrupt Partnership) has opened a consultation on their road tax plans that will be here in a few years unless we can put enough pressure on to stop it. This is a stealth tax (otherwise why would the Lib Dems in the Longstanton election for SCDC going on now not mention it at all in their flyer despite being supporters of it?)

Basically to go anywhere near town (and that means as soon as you come off A14 town side or Trumpington) and you get hit for £5 a day!! And we know that will soon go up and rather than be a 7/7 charge be 24/7).

This will affect so many people and leave Cambridge in a bad way. For example, why would I pay £5 to shop at Waitrose, I can drive to St Ives instead, so what do you think will happen to the Trumpington store, it will need less staff so job cuts and ultimately closure when head office see's revenue is dropping. Same applies to any shop that you need a car for. Same for pubs, restaurants and many other things.

Some of the things you will now be taxed for are:

1. Hospital - trip to A&E, £5. So when your child breaks an arm playing you really should be getting a bus!!! Or to visit someone in hospital, or to go for a check up. Or even a nurse working long hours
2. Care homes - even worse when someone is at end of life care and you want to visit daily - pay £5 a time
3. Shops - They think paying a tax or getting the bus is the right thing to do to buy your weeks shopping, or to go to a DIY store, or just to shop generally! Guess what, people will move more to online shopping, go to other towns
4. Sporting events - No getting to Cambridge before 7pm as you will be charge £5 to watch a Tues night game (and just wait till this is bought in on a Sat) - Chaos all round the stadium
5. Kids activities - from music lessons, to sports clubs, pay £5 each time your child does it

This is a Labour and Lib Dem led initiative - which is taking money out of ordinary working people when we have much higher prices and cost of living to worry about. Ironic when they criticise the government for this (BTW, I can't stand our government so I am not saying the Tories are the answer).

Maybe this is project Fear but what happens when this goes to £10 a day and the zone gets even bigger to include Histon, Shelford, and who knows where!! If it comes in on a Sat (and it will as people will put off going to town on a weekday and thus Sats will be chaos) that will be over £100 a year to watch Utd on this tax alone, will put people off going.

HGVs and vans will also be hit (up to £50 a day) so guess what, business owners will need to increase prices to pay for this!

No doubt the ultimate plan is for business to fail and places like the retail park bulldozed for more student flats.

Buses will not work in rural areas like many of the villages. consultcambs.uk.engagementhq.com/making-connections-2022 is the survey, please do it before we lose our lovely city!

I spent 20 minutes filling out that survey yesterday, what an abysmal plan it is. Put the charge in place and hope the infrastructure catches up eventually. It only benefits the rich fuckers who can afford it, in terms of effecting me i'll just start going to Cineworld in Stevenage instead. Football will be the real pain but otherwise I already use other towns for shopping purposes, Cambridge really doesn't have anything special in place that Stevenage/Biggleswade do not

[cambsno]

Oct 18, 2022 18:15:36 GMT Denton said:

Oct 18, 2022 8:34:04 GMT cambsno said:

I spent 20 minutes filling out that survey yesterday, what an abysmal plan it is. Put the charge in place and hope the infrastructure catches up eventually. It only benefits the rich fuckers who can afford it, in terms of effecting me i'll just start going to Cineworld in Stevenage instead. Football will be the real pain but otherwise I already use other towns for shopping purposes, Cambridge really doesn't have anything special in place that Stevenage/Biggleswade do not

Without turning this party political, I cant get my head around the fact this is a Lab/LD initiative.

They are the ones criticising the Tories about working families struggling with the rising cost of living, the planned cutting of tax for the rich etc... yet here they are screwing the average working person!!

Getting closer to some of of those canvassing it seems many are against it too, but having to 'toe the party line' - seems party politics is more important than the people they represent

[Tom Shaw's Fist of Rage]

Oct 19, 2022 8:18:39 GMT cambsno said:

Oct 18, 2022 18:15:36 GMT Denton said:

I spent 20 minutes filling out that survey yesterday, what an abysmal plan it is. Put the charge in place and hope the infrastructure catches up eventually. It only benefits the rich fuckers who can afford it, in terms of effecting me i'll just start going to Cineworld in Stevenage instead. Football will be the real pain but otherwise I already use other towns for shopping purposes, Cambridge really doesn't have anything special in place that Stevenage/Biggleswade do not

Without turning this party political, I cant get my head around the fact this is a Lab/LD initiative.

They are the ones criticising the Tories about working families struggling with the rising cost of living, the planned cutting of tax for the rich etc... yet here they are screwing the average working person!!

Getting closer to some of of those canvassing it seems many are against it too, but having to 'toe the party line' - seems party politics is more important than the people they represent

If it's anything like the Manchester scheme it was forced upon by central government with local government having to take the bad PR. I wonder how many Tory areas are having clean zones enforced...

[mike_CUFC]

This isn't the first time they've tried to bring in a congestion charge. The local council really are a shambles and are so anti-car it's ridiculous. I haven't shopped in Cambridge for years as I can drive to Norwich in the same time it takes me to park up there (and I only live just outside Newmarket!), and then the price of parking too easily offsets the extra petrol.
I don't know how the smaller businesses survive in Cambridge to be honest.
Our business is based South Cambridge so luckily won't be affected by the congestion charge but this will just push more people to remote working (where able) and will kill the local businesses even more.

An ill thought out scheme at the best of times, let alone during a cost of living crisis.

[moose]

I haven't read the detailed proposals, but the headlines are that it would only apply during the week (and even then only until 7pm), so wouldn't impact going to the football

[camloyal]

One thread complaining that there aren't enough buses and another complaining about revenue raising to put on, er, more buses 🤔

[cambsno]

Oct 20, 2022 16:01:24 GMT moose said:

I haven't read the detailed proposals, but the headlines are that it would only apply during the week (and even then only until 7pm), so wouldn't impact going to the football

For now... what happens when people stop going to town on weekdays and just on Sats - even more congestion and they will soon see the £££ and bring that in. They will soon make this 24/7.

And 7pm will affect Tuesdays - You will not be able to turn off A14 until 7pm to avoid the charge. So no-one will go before 7, meaning more people trying to get there at the same time. You will then have a 10-15 min drive to where you park. Then probably a 15min walk to the ground. So everyone will get there around 730

[cambsno]

Oct 20, 2022 16:26:31 GMT camloyal said:

One thread complaining that there aren't enough buses and another complaining about revenue raising to put on, er, more buses 🤔

If its such a great idea why are the GCP not giving us full information like timetables and what service we would get

Also, if its so great why are the Lib Dems fighting the Longstanton by-election not mentioning this at all on their election literature? They are for this as a party so why not take credit and have it as one of their priorities. Sneaky? Or trying to mislead the electorate. Its the biggest local issue so should be positioned.

[camloyal]

Oct 20, 2022 19:07:41 GMT cambsno said:

Oct 20, 2022 16:26:31 GMT camloyal said:

One thread complaining that there aren't enough buses and another complaining about revenue raising to put on, er, more buses 🤔

If its such a great idea why are the GCP not giving us full information like timetables and what service we would get
/quote]

They are.Routes, frequency, hours of operation, tickets prices? Fairly comprehensive information. Assume you must have read the reports?

Very good for many who can't afford cars.

[hoolaohanrahanrahan]

That sounds mental.

Cambridge traffic and parking costs are enough of a punishment as it is.

[moose]

Oct 20, 2022 19:04:30 GMT cambsno said:

Oct 20, 2022 16:01:24 GMT moose said:

I haven't read the detailed proposals, but the headlines are that it would only apply during the week (and even then only until 7pm), so wouldn't impact going to the football

For now... what happens when people stop going to town on weekdays and just on Sats - even more congestion and they will soon see the £££ and bring that in. They will soon make this 24/7.

And 7pm will affect Tuesdays - You will not be able to turn off A14 until 7pm to avoid the charge. So no-one will go before 7, meaning more people trying to get there at the same time. You will then have a 10-15 min drive to where you park. Then probably a 15min walk to the ground. So everyone will get there around 730

I'm not against the idea of a congestion zone in principle, but I would hope that certain changes are made to it before being implemented in 2027/2028. For example: (i) reducing the size of the zone; and (ii) ending the restriction at 6:30pm. No exemption for electric cars also seems very odd.

[Sandypants]

Oct 21, 2022 14:21:23 GMT moose said:

Oct 20, 2022 19:04:30 GMT cambsno said:

For now... what happens when people stop going to town on weekdays and just on Sats - even more congestion and they will soon see the £££ and bring that in. They will soon make this 24/7.

And 7pm will affect Tuesdays - You will not be able to turn off A14 until 7pm to avoid the charge. So no-one will go before 7, meaning more people trying to get there at the same time. You will then have a 10-15 min drive to where you park. Then probably a 15min walk to the ground. So everyone will get there around 730

I'm not against the idea of a congestion zone in principle, but I would hope that certain changes are made to it before being implemented in 2027/2028. For example: (i) reducing the size of the zone; and (ii) ending the restriction at 6:30pm. No exemption for electric cars also seems very odd.

Because electric cars contribute to congestion as much as gas-guzzlers?

[moose]

Oct 21, 2022 14:29:15 GMT Sandypants said:

Oct 21, 2022 14:21:23 GMT moose said:

I'm not against the idea of a congestion zone in principle, but I would hope that certain changes are made to it before being implemented in 2027/2028. For example: (i) reducing the size of the zone; and (ii) ending the restriction at 6:30pm. No exemption for electric cars also seems very odd.

Because electric cars contribute to congestion as much as gas-guzzlers?

But is congestion really a bad thing if isn't causing environmental damage?

The consultation says the zone would only come in once the bus network has been properly upgraded. If that leads to buses being the quickest way to get around Cambridge, then people would obviously shift towards that.

[Sandypants]

Oct 21, 2022 14:51:06 GMT moose said:

Oct 21, 2022 14:29:15 GMT Sandypants said:

Because electric cars contribute to congestion as much as gas-guzzlers?

But is congestion really a bad thing if isn't causing environmental damage?

The consultation says the zone would only come in once the bus network has been properly upgraded. If that leads to buses being the quickest way to get around Cambridge, then people would obviously shift towards that.

That's a fair question. I would say yes, because I'm an impatient chap and like to get to where I'm going in good time, but I hadn't truthfully considered the greenery in that part of my thinking.