West London Will Mourn the Loss of 6,000 jobs

Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP for Kensington & Chelsea, Greg Hands MP for Hammersmith & Fulham and The West London Residents Association will all be attending the mock funeral on Thursday morning 20^th October to mourn the passing of 6,000 jobs that will be lost if the proposed extension to the congestion charge zone goes ahead as the Mayor has promised.  The funeral procession will depart from Elvaston Place at 12.00 noon and proceed to Kensington Gate for a rally at 12.30 pm.

An independent study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which has substantial expertise in modelling the economic impact of transport infrastructure projects, has revealed that the principal costs of the Mayor’s plans could be the loss of 6,000 jobs and £236m in annual sales to businesses in the zone extension.

 The losses will come mainly from the retail and hospitality sectors as shoppers and visitors are deterred from entering Kensington & Chelsea by car.  CEBR’s calculations were made using the analysis produced by Transport for London.

 The Mayor’s announcement of his decision to proceed with the extension, after his most recent consultation revealed that 3 out of 4 Londoners were opposed, has created a sense of outrage amongst local residents and businesses alike.

 Gordon Taylor, Chairman of the West London Residents Association said: “The Mayor’s justification for extending the congestion charge is based on totally bogus data.   Close analysis of TfL’s own figures shows it will cost £161m to implement and will take the best part of a decade to get the money back - and that’s on TfL's most optimistic projections (£24m/year).  Looking at TfL’s conservative revenue projections, which show £4m/year, the extension will not raise enough money to cover the interest due let alone provide cash for public transport!”

 David Tarsh, a local resident of Hammersmith & Fulham said: “This is an outrageous scandal.  6,000 people’s livelihoods will be sacrificed for an idea that is totally flawed.  The law obliges the Mayor to consult.  Two consultations demonstrated the plan is deeply unpopular.  Yet the Mayor thinks he is entitled to go ahead anyway, against the express will of the people.  If the Mayor is indeed entitled to ignore his own consultations, even when the findings are so emphatic, there is something severely wrong with the law, as it is obliging public money to be wasted on futile studies.”

 ENDS

For further information or to arrange an interview, please call Gordon Taylor on (020) 7730 3045 or David Tarsh on +44 (020) 7602 5262, 07770 816 070 (m).  For further detail on the CEBR Report, please call Mark Pragnell on (020) 7324 2844.

 About the Funeral

The Forum of Private Business (FPB), a major voice against the Congestion Charge, is joining forces with the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) and Greater London Assembly Member, Angie Bray to stage the protest, which has been triggered by the Mayor’s announcement earlier this month that the Westward Extension will go ahead in February 2007.

 The funeral will take the form of a march led by a hearse, jazz band and chief mourner resplendent in black hat and drapes with a banner marking the death of independent businesses.

 Forum for Private Business Survey

A major FPB survey of 1,000 London small firms released this week revealed that seven out of 10 businesses say increasing the Congestion Charge from £5 to £8 has damaged their trade and a third have considered quitting the capital as a result. Bosses were pessimistic about the future, with 70 per cent saying they were no longer confident of trading growth over the next six months and more than three quarters supported a six month suspension of the charge to give trade a chance to recover.

 Furthermore, an overwhelming 73 per cent of business owners said Ken Livingstone is not doing enough to attract business back into the Capital.

 Click here for more information about the Forum for Private Business or contact Rex Garratt on 01565 634 709 or 07775 752 307.