DRIVERS will have to pay twice as much to cross Whitchurch toll bridge after the increase was approved the Government.
The toll will go up from 20p to 40p on Monday, October 26, a 400 per cent increase on the charge in 2004.
The move follows a public inquiry in June where an inspector appointed by the Transport Secretary heard evidence from the Whitchurch Bridge Company and residents opposed to the rise.
The company argued it needed the revenue to pay for a £3.2million reconstruction of the Grade II-listed bridge, planned for 2013.
Residents on both sides of the 102-year-old bridge objected and were supported by parish and district councillors, Henely MP John Howell and Reading West MP Martin Salter.
In his report, published this week, inspector Martyn Heyes said the toll increases was reasonable “with regard to the current financial position and future prospects of the company”.
When the toll was last doubled in 2004, the company estimated it needed £1.26million to refurbish the bridge by 2015 at the latest. The costs later soared and the firm said it needed a loan that required another toll increase.
Mr Heyes said: “I can see no reason to dispute the company’s conclusion that raising a loan is the most cost effective way of filling the funding gap.
“I conclude that there is very little evidence to suggest that the company is, or has been in the recent past, operating in a manner which is not within its statutory remit or could not be seen as acceptable and reasonable.
“The company is not a charity and it operates legally under parliamentary act.”
The 1988 Whitchurch Bridge Act allows tolls to be charged to pay for operating costs, building up a reserve fund or to pay back loans required for repair or replacement.
The increase means daily return journeys over the bridge will cost drivers £292 a year, or £146 with concessions. Regular users, who pay by a card discount system, will be charged 13.89p until next year, when the figure will rise to 20p.
Protesters said they were disappointed but not surprised to have lost their fight.
Colin Cooper, of Whitchurch Hill, who set up the Tollfreeze.com website with Phil Lewis, of Whitchurch, said: “It was difficult for us to get our points across at the inquiry. We couldn’t afford a barrister like the company.
“We have to accept what was said but there’s a lot of anger in the villages.”
Mr Cooper said protesters would put pressure on Oxfordshire County Council to take over control of the bridge. The council has said it would be unlikely to consider buying the bridge before the structure was repaired and paid for. It also stated the toll resulted in less traffic in the villages.
Mr Howell said: “The inspector praised the way local residents had approached this and I would echo that. It was a hard and professional campaign which was well fought.
“I was heartened to see the inspector agreed that the current legal situation of the bridge is illogical but that has not helped those regular users who will now have to face a doubling of the charge.
“This is an issue to which we will need to return. It may be possible to seek a change in the law and there will undoubtedly be more calls for the bridge to be part of the county council network.”
Pearl Slatter, who represents Goring on South Oxfordshire District Council, insisted the fight was “not all over”.
“There are still a lot of hoops for the company to jump through,” she said. “This has to be looked at by planners and conservation experts.”
Geoff Weir, company secretary of the Whitchurch Bridge Company, said: “We know the objectors had strong views but at the inquiry they failed to put up any convincing arguments against the company’s case for a toll increase. The company can now get on with its plans to reconstruct the bridge.”
Published on 19 October 2009
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