The County Council’s decision to kick the congestion charge into the long grass makes it more important than ever to look at the positive alternatives to the traffic challenges in Cambridge , says Cambridge Labour Parliamentary Spokesperson Daniel Zeichner.

Mr Zeichner has already highlighted alternative funding opportunities and is dismayed that the Council continues to ignore them. When the Transport Commission reported in July, Mr Zeichner challenged the authors on why they had not considered the new legislation allowing councils to raise funds locally. Almost two months later, there has been no reply.

Mr Zeichner says that it is time for the council to look at alternatives:

“Kicking the congestion charge into the long grass won’t solve the transport or housing challenges we face. The council needs to rethink some of the housing sites, such as the Marshalls development, which depended on the congestion charge. The money raised from the charge was to be used to improve public transport – the council should now be looking at other ways to do that, including using new powers made available by the Labour government.”