WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols has joined calls for controversial plans to increase the toll at Warburton Toll bridge from 12p to £1 to be rejected.
THE Manchester Ship Canal Company (MSCC) Ltd, owned by Peel Ports, has submitted an application to the Transport Secretary, under the Transport and Works Act 1992, for the proposed Rixton and Warburton Toll Bridge Order.
The Order proposes new procedures for the operation of Warburton Toll Bridge, including byelaws, and collection arrangements, and includes proposals to increase the toll from 12p to £1.
Heavily used each week, the bridge is a vital link between local communities and is a key route for many travelling to work, to see family and for other local journeys.
Warrington North MP, Charlotte Nichols, has written to the Secretary of State for Transport to object to the proposals to increase tolls on the bridge and, she has urged him to consider scrapping the toll.
Charlotte Nichols MP said: “It appears that Warburton Toll Bridge has not had any significant maintenance work undertaken for quite some time and it is long overdue investment. Many of my constituents are plagued by the problems associated with this bridge every day.
“While I don’t dispute the need for both improvement works and the modernisation of the bridge, local residents should not be forced to foot the bill. The owner of the bridge is responsible for its upkeep, and it is the owner’s responsibility to carry out these works in a timely way.
“The Order seeks to increase the charge of a one-way journey from 12p to £1. This is an eye-watering increase of more than 700 percent and it comes at the same time that the cost of living continues to soar. The proposals are deeply unfair, and I will continue to oppose them on behalf of local residents.
“I have made my views known to the Secretary of State and, I have called on him to consider scrapping the toll charge altogether.”
3 Comments
Hi there, at present the 12p toll is for a tiny narrow stone bridge net to the toll booth, it is NOT for the bridge spanning the Ship Canal. This is entirely separate and Peel want motorists to foot the bill for repairs due. Why the two bridges are being being linked linked by the same toll is anyone’s guess, please get the facts right and tell Peel to sod off! Thanks.
Yes I don’t understand why this point is not highlighted in all the discussions about the toll hike. I have also always understood that the toll is only for the small stone bridge that passes over what is now a field. Why now talk about it as though it covers the steel bridge over the canal.
Peel would like the narrative on this to include the “bridge without a toll” to bolster their proposal for the increase. And by incorporating it into overall proposed increase they can then point to the significantly larger area – including the bridge over the ship canal and it’s approaches, which have lamentable maintenance record – in an attempt to justify the level of their proposed new toll.