(1888PressRelease)
June 05, 2008 - Amid angry protests from residents, traders, shopkeepers, and local councils, Boris Johnson is under pressure to scrap the western extension of the congestion charge zone. The mayor promised to hold a referendum on the matter during his election campaign and said he is now working with Transport for London to hold the poll within the coming months.
The extended zone covers Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill and Pimlico, but those living on the periphery of the zone claim to be the hardest hit, as they are not eligible for a discount on the daily £8 charge. Furthermore, parking problems have been severely exacerbated in those peripheral areas.
“The western extension has caused parking gridlock and outrage in west London,” said Nicholas Botterill, deputy leader and cabinet member for the environment. He called the scheme “a body blow for local businesses” and called for it to be scrapped immediately.
The local council’s investigation into the effects of the extension showed that small businesses, such as estate agencies, florists and dry cleaners, are losing thousands of pounds annually to make short trips of less than a mile. Many of these businesses have also lost major channels of income and business as they cannot afford the daily £8 charge – for example, an estate agent in Shepard’s Bush said that they had to give up some of their properties inside the zone because they could not afford the charge just to show those properties to customers.
At Shepherd’s Bush market, which falls just outside the extended charging zone, store owners and traders say that business is down 50% since the extension came into force, and that if things continue at this rate London’s oldest street market may have to close. So all eyes are now on what Mr Johnson will do to fix this problem – and everyone in the areas badly affected by the extension are hoping he will fix it quickly.
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