Bridge toll rise anger

ANGER grew last night at the revelation that the cost of crossing the Severn Bridge is to break the £5 barrier in the New Year.


The price of coming into Wales will rise to £5.10 for cars from January, fuelling claims that the toll has become an "anti-Welsh tax" penalising Welsh businesses.

Van drivers will have to fork out more than £10 for the first time, and the toll for lorries will pass £15 under the increases announced by Severn River Crossing (SRC), the company which operates both bridges.

Brynle Williams, the Conservative AM who led the national fuel protests in 2000, last night described the toll rises as unnecessary, and said they were unfair to Wales.

He said, "This is an anti-Welsh tax. It's discouraging people from coming here.

"People will say it's only a fiver, but it's a fiver that has to be built into the equation, and with businesses which use the bridge every day, we could be talking about thousands of pounds a year.

"I find it grossly unfair - it's a tax on the motorist, on the economy and on Wales."

The toll increases are based on inflation, and are tied to the Retail Price Index. Last January, the price for cars rose from £4.80 to £4.90, but it has now jumped a further 20p to £5.10.

Russell Lawson, of the Federation of Small Businesses in Wales, said the psychological consequences of going through the £5 barrier were likely to have the most significant results.

He said, "It's really more of a psychological barrier to trade, than an actual barrier. It's not a particularly significant amount of money in itself, but for people forced to pay it every day, it really adds up. It's really time the situation was addressed.

"We might see the same attitude as people have about giving up smoking - when the price of a pack gets to £5, they'll give up. We might find people give up coming here.

"I've spoken to our members today, who've said that they don't care how much it costs in fuel, they'll go round in future, on principle."

John McGoldrick, of the National Alliance Against Tolls, said the fee should be abolished.

"Earlier this year it was the 40th anniversary of the first bridge, and the tolls. It is time this tax was removed.

"Having to pay over £5 to drive a car or over £15 to drive a lorry into Wales cannot be good for business.

"The promise is that the tolls will be removed when the cost of building the bridges is recovered.

"But the Government started in 2003 taking some of the income as VAT, which postponed the date. The fear is that when the date is eventually reached, the authorities will just keep collecting the money anyway."

The company running the bridges is obliged to stop charging tolls when the cost of building them is paid for. It's speculated this will happen in around 2014.

Paul Watters, head of roads and motoring policy at the AA Motoring Trust, said his organisation had no problem with the increase, provided the means of setting increments remained transparent, but accepted the rise would have a psychological impact on drivers.

He said, "As long as the means of calculating the toll is transparent, we don't have a problem with it. But this is a big psychological barrier.

"What's in an RPI agreement doesn't have to be exercised; it means you can increase it, it doesn't mean you have to.

"If you drive traffic away, then you do not simply affect your trade, but you affect businesses around you. I just hope they've done their traffic monitoring properly to ensure that's not going to happen.

"But there's a psychological barrier. There's no getting away from that."

Mr Williams, AM for North Wales, said the extra charges were another handicap for motorists.

He added, "This will soon mount up with other motoring costs going up as well - insurance, fuel - it's all getting very heavy.

"Does the company that runs it really need that money? It's a tax on Wales, and it's a tax on business. The time is now when we should draw the line and say that enough is enough. When you look at the volume of traffic going over that bridge every day, it's drawing in an awful lot of money. Where is that money going?"

Defending the increases, general manager of the operating company, Jim Clune, said, "SRC amends the tolls at the start of each year in strict compliance with the Severn Bridges Act 1992 and upon order from the Secretary of State.

"The Act sets down the precise method and base prices for setting toll levels. The adjustment to next year's tolls levels, like this year, is in accordance with RPI."



David Williamson
Political Editor
Martin Shipton
Chief Reporter
Peter Law
Chief Reporter
Clare Hutchinson
Crime Correspondent
Gareth Evans
Education Correspondent
Julia McWatt
Health Editor
Karen Price
Arts Editor
Sion Barry
Business Editor
Paul Abbandonato
Head of Sport
Chris Wathan
Swansea City Correspondent
Terry Phillips
Cardiff City Correspondent
Simon Thomas
Rugby Correspondent
Andy Howell
Rugby Correspondent