Labour and Conservatives vote together to increase Tamar Tolls
After a heated debate at New County Hall in Truro, Cornwall Councillors have narrowly voted in favour of increasing the Tamar Tolls by 15% to £3 (£1.50 for TAG users).
Before the main vote, Liberal Democrat Group Leader Colin Martin proposed that no decision on toll changes should be made before the General Election. He said:
“It is Liberal Democrat party policy to abolish the tolls and provide full funding for both the bridge and the ferry from Central Government. I believe that if we elect enough Liberal Democrats at the General Election, the Tamar Crossings will get the Government funding they deserve, before the financial reserves run out.”
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Labour and Conservative Councillors voted together to reject this proposal, so the debate moved on to whether or not the tolls should be increased. Most Councillors of all parties from South East Cornwall voted against the increase, which was described as a “tax” on people living and working there. However, they were outnumbered by Conservative and Labour Councillors from the rest of Cornwall who voted in favour of the increase.
The final vote was 38 in favour of increasing the tolls and 36 against.
Only the Liberal Democrats and Mebyon Kernow voted along party lines. Liberal Democrat Group leader Colin Martin said that this showed how parties can be a force for good:
“At their best, political parties can persuade the majority to sacrifice a little bit for the benefit of a minority in greater need. Liberal Democrats from as far away as Helston and Penzance stuck together to oppose the increase which mostly affects South East Cornwall.
But Councillor Ewert (Labour, Rame Peninsula & St Germans) has discovered the downside of ‘For the many, not the few’! She voted against the increase, but was outnumbered by Labour councillors from Falmouth and Redruth who voted in favour of it. If she had simply persuaded them to abstain, the toll increase would not be happening.”
Cllr Hilary Frank (Lib Dem, Saltash Essa) said that the proposed uplift in tolls is nothing short of daylight robbery: “It represents a 50% uplift on what people were paying as recently as December 2022. This is already unsustainable for families, and is already having a detrimental impact on our economy. The Conservatives talk about ‘levelling up’, but the majority of them have voted to do precisely the opposite."
Crucially, Councillor Worth (Conservative, Saltash Trematon & Landrake), who is the Chair of the Joint Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Committee, voted with his party. If Cllr Worth had voted the other way, the vote would have been tied.
Cllr Dominic Fairman (Lib Dem, St Teath & Tintagel) pointed out that predicted vehicle levels contradict the Council’s Climate Change commitments: “Our transport strategy says we want to cut vehicle journeys by 30% by 2030. If this actually happened, we’d have to increase tolls to almost £5. So if we’re serious about tackling climate change, the only sustainable option is to abolish the tolls and get central Government funding for the crossings.”
Closing the debate, Cllr Richard Williams-Pears (Conservative Portfolio Holder for Transport) said that he would delay asking the Secretary of State for permission to increase the tolls for 55 days to give local MPs Sheryll Murray and Johnny Mercer change to deliver on their ambition of securing extra Government funding.
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