congestion charge NO campaign

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brass neck

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Kiss the badge... kiss my arse
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, he is one of the spokesmen for the NO campaign. I asked him why there has only been a load of publicly funded YES stuff in the papers and not much from the NO campaign. He said they are keeping there powder dry till right before the referendum, then they have a load of stuff lined up that will dispel a number of myths/propaganda and they also have some juicy stuff about where the government is hoping to go with this tracker in cars technology and how Manchester is just a foot in the door to introducing as national road pricing scheme which apparently is ALLREADY in place to go as and when the Manchester experiment is deemed a succsess. Obviously there chips will be somewhat pissed on when Manchester fucks the idea off. The No campaign has the financial backing of a number of huge companies including Kellogg's and Peel Holdings. The Yes campaign are running so scared now they have made one last throw of the dice by hiring the people who got the charge into London for Red Ken.

For me the interesting thing wont be the result of the referendum because that is virtually guaranteed to go the way of the NO campaign IF people actually decide to get out and vote. (the yes mob will be depending on voter apathy) The interesting thing will be the aftermath of a NO vote and how the council/government will spin it. They have put so many eggs in this basket I'm certain they will have a plan in place to get this horrendous erosion of freedom and attack on the tax payer through by hook or by crook.
 
They've got final year business tudents at MMU working on projects which are based around setting up a process for the congestion charge in Mcr... perhaps their using students as a way of free labour as they are unsure of the outcome.

'No' vote from me.
 
I must admit, I have been aware of a distinct inbalance in the amount of exposure given to the Yes campaign. My own concern (both myself and my wife living in Hyde and working in the city centre) is the massive potential financial impact this will have on us. We are already paying full time childcare and this coupled with the increased costs of getting into Manchester is really starting to worry me.

I am hoping that the NO campaign really come out all guns blazing in the run-up to the referendum and put the final nail in the coffin of this outrageous charge.

One other point is i am sick to death of seeing the posters showing people who wont have to pay the charge, I don't know anyone who either works or traels into Manchester off peak.

No matter what positive spin they attempt to put on the charge i cannot see any rational person being coerced into voting yes and the wider issues about a National charge are quite worrying, is this another example of stealth by the government ?
 
The government should upgrade our public transport REGARDLESS of congestion charging. They've poured tons of cash into London's and made sure it WORKS before they introduced a small congestion ring. The way I see this is that we're being held to ransom. The fact this government's been so London-centric regarding transport shows how little they care, and as for transport improvements it's the 'scratch our backs and we'll scratch yours' approach. Not everyone lives in London, and it's high time this government realised that fact. So no from me.
 
i live near hollins road , oldham . if i want to go to tesco in failsworth , or visit family in blackley , i have to pay a fee . what the fuck has that journey got to do with city centre manchester traffic congestion ? and all this bollocks about stopping the charge once the loan has been repaid in 2030 . once it's in , it's in for eternity .
it's got fuck all to do with congestion , it's all about REVENUE .
if it does get voted in , watch the congestion charge increase dramatically . just like poll tax/council tax charges did .
the way the council have introduced road traffic measures have undoubtedly increased congestion on key routes in and out of the centre . ( traffic islands/bus lanes/traffic light timings/new road markings/etc/etc ) this congestion charge was thought about years ago .
90% of proposed 'new' tram routes are already on existing track .
i could go on and on and on , but i can't be arsed . i won't be changing my mind .
i'll be voting a big fat NO .


( make sure you get your voting literature in november through the post . the vote is a postal vote . you must be on the electoral roll to be able to vote )
 
Have you noticed how councils have got rid of alot of bus layby's and so the buses now stop on the road holding the rest of the traffic up causing more congestion

It's also a fact that in London traffic light sequences were altered to hold traffic up and cause congestion and after the charge was brought in the sequences were altered back again so the traffic would flow.
 
NQT said:
Have you noticed how councils have got rid of alot of bus layby's and so the buses now stop on the road holding the rest of the traffic up causing more congestion

It's also a fact that in London traffic light sequences were altered to hold traffic up and cause congestion and after the charge was brought in the sequences were altered back again so the traffic would flow.
Click to expand...

Do you put tinfoil inside your hat so The Man can't read your brain? ;-)
 
BingoBango said:
NQT said:
Have you noticed how councils have got rid of alot of bus layby's and so the buses now stop on the road holding the rest of the traffic up causing more congestion

It's also a fact that in London traffic light sequences were altered to hold traffic up and cause congestion and after the charge was brought in the sequences were altered back again so the traffic would flow.
Click to expand...

Do you put tinfoil inside your hat so The Man can't read your brain? ;-)
Click to expand...
Ha ha ha. You may throw scawn. But in fact the conspiricy has been prooved by a team working for Peel Holdings.
and summed up nicely here
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/index.asp?Sessionx=IpqiNw86IWXoKHqiNwF6IHqi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk ... qiNwF6IHqi</a>


brass neck said:
A Recipe for Traffic Congestion, a traditional Manchester dish that can be turned into a nice little earner…

1. Chop most cross-town thoroughfares thoroughly and introduce inner ring road.

2. Whip in pinch points such as reducing the width of Deansgate at House of Fraser and Waterstones to just two lanes, from four, so that traffic backs up from Strangeways Prison in one direction to St George’s Church in the other.

3. Drizzle in another pinch point near Harry Ramsden’s Chip Shop, so that neither the feeder road at Water St nor the ring road can move.

4. Leave to stand.

5. Take a functioning one way system at Blackfriars St, divide carefully to make it two way, put multi-bus stops opposite major car park entrance at Renaissance Hotel to ensure St Mary’s Parsonage gets gridlocked as well as Blackfriars St and Deansgate.

6. Introduce planning permission for Marks and Spencer to have a car park with access straight off Deansgate that results in traffic queues through the Victoria Bridge traffic lights back beyond the MEN arena.


7. Blend in a melange of bus routes down John Dalton St, (single lane, two-way street), install multi-bus stops just before the Deansgate traffic lights BUT (and here’s the clever bit) separate, just for the buses, a right turn so that other traffic gets stuck on John Dalton St, backs up round Albert Square and reaches the Midland Hotel.

8. DECLARE Manchester a congested city, stir thoroughly with media exposure and serve without conscience in an envelope of recycled paper to city centre residents at a very tasty price of £500 a year.

9. Explain that this is at a discounted level and that visitors will be charged at a rate of £13.20 per evening with an extra dollop of £22.20 on Sundays.

Howard Sharrock
Click to expand...
 
brass neck said:
BingoBango said:
NQT said:
Have you noticed how councils have got rid of alot of bus layby's and so the buses now stop on the road holding the rest of the traffic up causing more congestion

It's also a fact that in London traffic light sequences were altered to hold traffic up and cause congestion and after the charge was brought in the sequences were altered back again so the traffic would flow.
Click to expand...

Do you put tinfoil inside your hat so The Man can't read your brain? ;-)
Click to expand...
Ha ha ha. You may throw scawn. But in fact the conspiricy has been prooved by a team working for Peel Holdings.
and summed up nicely here
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/index.asp?Sessionx=IpqiNw86IWXoKHqiNwF6IHqi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk ... qiNwF6IHqi</a>
Click to expand...


I also forgot to mention roads such as the A6 which has been reduced from two lanes into one in the last few years
 
Congestion Charge = Tax. Every major route into Manchester, A6, Hyde Road, Ashton Old Rd etc etc has had a bus lane put in which only adds to congestion. I'm sure if the CC was successful the price to travel on public transport would also rise! I'm amazed that some people actually think the CC is a good idea?!?! The below is a draft copy of the actual ballot paper you will receive (printed in th MEN)
C_71_article_1076436_image_list_image_list_item_1_image.jpg
 
Definite NO. Won't affect me as I live inside but work outside the M60 buti its a piss poor way to tax people.
 
I'd definetely be votin' NO , if i was allowed to vote , as would the council of the area that i live in (Stockport) ....... but i won't get a vote here ... i wonder why!

No doubt that the vote will be discreetly 'manipulated' though to provide the answer that the council want ..... even though it won't be them who count the actual ballot papers.

Do you honest believe that they'll spend £3 billion quid on what they're supposed to when they face ever increasin' shortfalls in central government handouts?

Anybody who trusts Manchester City council is either very naive , or an idiot ...... an' it would only be a matter of time before they tried to 'up' the congestion charges , no matter what they say!

All this nine out of ten people won't pay anythin' crap is just that ...... crap!

They wouldn't be so keen to push it through if those were the odds!
 
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