Appeal for help.

[Vista]

As those of you who are local may know, in parallel to managing Old Skool Ford, I have been busy for the last couple of years campaigning with a team of colleagues for change on an important local issue here in the Westcountry. As you can see, the RS gets roped into event support and pulls a crowd wherever it appears. She and I would greatly appreciate some help, help that will take you just a minute of your time.

Crossing the Tamar Crossings, and those of you who joined us for the 2023 Tour of the Moor may remember the bridge, costs the residents of my small town an enormous figure of arounnd £2 million in tolls annually. Across the wider region on the immediate either side of the two crossings, this figure leaps to over £5.5 million and over £7.5million as you travel slightly further afield. These costs are cumulative and are crippling for those people who rely on the crossings for access to work, health care, education, leisure etc.

Recently the local authority that manages the crossings voted to increase our tolls by a further 15% when they had already increased them by 30% as recently as January 2023. If this further toll uplift proceeds, it means our tolls will have increased by 50% since December 2022, by 100% since early 2019 and by a massive 650% since 1992. This is an enormous financial burden.

So, how can you help? Well, our committee at the Tamar Toll Action Group have been lobbying local MP's in our region and have support in our campaign for change from a number of them. If you are a Westcountry local please give our page a follow at the link above, and wherever you are in the UK, please sign the petition below that our MP will be taking to the Secretary of State for Transport asking him to oppose the toll revision request when it is made.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and any shares of this petition link are greatly appreciated.

TOLLS PETITION

[Vista Estate]

2 hours ago, Vista said:

As those of you who are local may know, in parallel to managing Old Skool Ford, I have been busy for the last couple of years campaigning with a team of colleagues for change on an important local issue here in the Westcountry. As you can see, the RS gets roped into event support and pulls a crowd wherever it appears. She and I would greatly appreciate some help, help that will take you just a minute of your time.

Crossing the Tamar Crossings, and those of you who joined us for the 2023 Tour of the Moor may remember the bridge, costs the residents of my small town an enormous figure of arounnd £2 million in tolls annually. Across the wider region on the immediate either side of the two crossings, this figure leaps to over £5.5 million and over £7.5million as you travel slightly further afield. These costs are cumulative and are crippling for those people who rely on the crossings for access to work, health care, education, leisure etc.

Recently the local authority that manages the crossings voted to increase our tolls by a further 15% when they had already increased them by 30% as recently as January 2023. If this further toll uplift proceeds, it means our tolls will have increased by 50% since December 2022, by 100% since early 2019 and by a massive 650% since 1992. This is an enormous financial burden.

So, how can you help? Well, our committee at the Tamar Toll Action Group have been lobbying local MP's in our region and have support in our campaign for change from a number of them. If you are a Westcountry local please give our page a follow at the link above, and wherever you are in the UK, please sign the petition below that our MP will be taking to the Secretary of State for Transport asking him to oppose the toll revision request when it is made.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and any shares of this petition link are greatly appreciated.

TOLLS PETITION

I don't get down your way very much but this type of extra tax really hits local people and businesses hard so I have added my support to your petition.

Vista Estate is solidly behind it too as he supports many charities throughout the year. 👊

[Ray]

signed

[Vista]

Thanks both.

@Vista Estate we have taken to calling it the Tamar Toll Tax. The costs are extreme. There's a local haulage business near me paying around £7,000 per month. Someone who crosses it by car 5 times per week for work and a few more times for leisure is looking at a bill of £500 - £600 per year.

[Nige65]

Thanks for explaining the costs and increases Scott, I generally use the A30 so it doesn’t affect me very much but for locals it must be a real strain on those that are already struggling financially.

it reminds me of living in Hampshire and the local hospital charging the staff to park at work!

Signed the petition and best of luck with the Action Group 👍

[Vista]

6 hours ago, Nige65 said:

Thanks for explaining the costs and increases Scott, I generally use the A30 so it doesn’t affect me very much but for locals it must be a real strain on those that are already struggling financially.

it reminds me of living in Hampshire and the local hospital charging the staff to park at work!

Signed the petition and best of luck with the Action Group 👍

Thank you Nige. Not sure where you are in Cornwall but if you could share the petition with friends, family and colleagues down your way, I would really appreciate it. As with all such campaigns, half the battle is making people aware.

You may actually be surprised how far west the cost is spread. Tale a look at the numbers in these tables. The cost by postal district and constituency are just for the Tag account holders. Cash payers are in addition to these numbers. 

[Vista]

Can anyone else help with this? It takes less than a minute to sign the petition.

[colr6]

Done 👍

[Vista]

30 minutes ago, colr6 said:

Done 👍

Thanks Col. Due to the high rates they charge for HGV's, local hauliers face enormous costs from this crossing. There's a haulage business near me that has costs of between £6,000 and £7,000 per month.

[colr6]

16 minutes ago, Vista said:

Thanks Col. Due to the high rates they charge for HGV's, local hauliers face enormous costs from this crossing. There's a haulage business near me that has costs of between £6,000 and £7,000 per month.

I’ve had that pain with the Humber Bridge on my doorstep.

[Vista]

Yes, comparisons between the other remaining large tolled crossings in England (Humber, Dart and Mersey) also feature as part of our campaign. 

One significant difference between the Humber and Tamar bridges are their respective sizes. The Humber & Mersey bridges come in at around 2200m long, the Dartford Bridge is a whopping 2872m long. The Tamar Bridge? just 642m long. Tiny by comparison.

[Dave Knight]

Signed bud. That’s scandalous for the haulage businesses on top of the rise in fuel. 
 

SME’s and locals suffer. Unity is strength. 👊🏻

[Vista]

57 minutes ago, Dave Knight said:

Signed bud. That’s scandalous for the haulage businesses on top of the rise in fuel. 
 

SME’s and locals suffer. Unity is strength. 👊🏻

Thanks Dave.

Any support from anyone else is much appreciated.

[Xp197777]

Just signed it Scott 👍

[BaileyMex]

What post code do you want me to use? mine is obviously miles away and might look sus

[Dave Knight]

35 minutes ago, BaileyMex said:

What post code do you want me to use? mine is obviously miles away and might look sus

I used my Manchester one. It affects everyone I think, even holiday makers. 

[BaileyMex]

Gotcha!

Done!!!

[Vista]

7 hours ago, BaileyMex said:

Gotcha!

Done!!!

Thank you and yes, I am in touch with our MP about it as she is the one who raised the petition. She said she welcomed signatures from across the UK so please do ask any friends or family to sign it.

[Vista]

Anyone else up for signing this? Over 4,000 signatures now.

[Vista Estate]

On 30/03/2024 at 07:05, Vista said:

Anyone else up for signing this? Over 4,000 signatures now.

All done early doors @Vista.

We all pay enough this is just another tax on people and local businesses. 👎

[Vista]

On 31/03/2024 at 20:18, Vista Estate said:

All done early doors @Vista.

We all pay enough this is just another tax on people and local businesses. 👎

The numbers I obtained from the Joint Committee that oversee it on behalf of the two owning Councils shows that it sucks almost 3.5 million a year out of the local economy of my town and the immediate surrounding villages.

[Vista]

My MP will be presenting this petition in the Commons tomorrow evening. Thousands have signed now, anyone else prepared to help me by signing this?

 

https://www.southeastcornwallconservatives.com/campaigns/petition-no-increase-tamar-toll-2024

[Dave Knight]

Good luck Vista 👆

[Vista]

Local news report and clip of the petition being presented 

 

 

[Dave Knight]

That’s really positive it’s now being presented. Hopefully the folk at the top will take this seriously, someone is making a lot of money.

The local guy is right, it’s always the local people and local economy that suffer.