Black Country business leaders call for subsidised charges on M6 Toll
BUSINESS leaders in the Black Country have called for greater recognition of the critical importance of proper investment in the strategic road network to support haulage and logistics activity.
They have also said the operational structure of the M6 Toll should be reassessed and subsidised tolls should be considered at certain times of the day.
Responding to transport authority Centro’s West Midlands Metropolitan Freight Strategy, the Black Country Chamber Transport Group said in the vast majority of cases road freight was the only viable option for the haulage and logistics sector.
In total, 53m tonnes of freight from the West Midlands area is transported by road. The BCCTG said it believed rail freight would continue to be used by only a minority of specialist businesses and water freight was unlikely to be used for anything other than large bulk movements.
It said that to be successful, the strategy had to reflect the significant growth in small scale local freight movements, the increase in drop-box solutions and delivery to central locations for collection by the customer and the increase in international B2C freight to a range of destinations.
Centro developed the strategy to provide a framework to prioritise and co-ordinate investment in various schemes to enhance the movement of freight. The strategy aims to generate economic benefits and attract investment for the region.
Colin Leighfield, BCCTG chair, said: “Given the critical importance of road freight to the regional and national economy, there are two pivotal issues that must be addressed. Firstly, while the managed motorways have proven to be successful and we are fully supportive of the proposals to deliver the necessary additional Managed Motorway schemes on the M42 and M5, we need to ensure that we fully utilise the existing capacity of the M6 Toll Road.
“There is an urgent need for a solution for the Toll Road and the introduction of a shadow toll, or subsidised tolls at certain times of the day should be carefully considered.”
Secondly, he said managed motorways could only be a short-term solution to the national/regional congestion problems and a solution which addresses the under-provision in the western part of the region should be sought.
“We would welcome the opportunity to explore how transport authorities can help ensure that this crucial priority remains on the political agenda and to encourage work to be undertaken to develop a viable proposition for a long term solution,” he added.
“Central Government must address the unacceptably long lead times for scheme development funding and delivery. We appreciate that major schemes are required to go through significant planning processes, however this drastically reduces confidence in such schemes and makes it difficult for businesses to plan and support the required investment in infrastructure to grow the economy. Where possible we believe that the majority of developed schemes should be able to be delivered within the lifetime of one term of Government.”
