Thirteen people turn up to protest tunnel tolls increase
ONLY 13 people turned up to protest an increase in tunnel tolls, leaving organisers warning any opposition to further increases may be viewed as “a flash in the pan”.
Prices to travel under the Mersey in a car jumped by 10p each way on Sunday but only SEVEN people stayed throughout a demonstration against the rise, called by Mersey Tunnel Users Association (MTUA).
MTUA’s John McGoldrick said he was “disappointed” by the low turnout, and warned: “We fear it will make it more likely there may be another increase, particularly if nothing happens over the next 12 months.”
But Sefton councillor Mark Dowd, who cast the deciding vote sanctioning the increase as part of his role with Merseytravel, told the News it makes little difference how many protesters turn up.
Cllr Dowd said: “When you get to the stage when yours is the casting vote to put something up, nobody takes any pleasure in it.“And it’s not a case of whether there are 10 or five or 500 people protesting, it’s the circumstances of the day.
“The tolls hadn’t gone up for three years and in 1992, they were £1.
“So it’s gone up to £1.30 and now £1.50 - I wish everything else would go up by just 30p or 50p.”
MTUA suggests the low turnout could be explained by the protest falling on Mother’s Day.
And now John McGoldrick wants to encourage those who use the tunnels to write to local politicians urging restraint when considering any future rise.
He said: “The politicians at Merseytravel may well be thinking the protest was just a flash in the pan and nobody is going to do anything, so they can put the tolls up again and this time go for the maximum amount.”
Cllr Dowd says Merseytravel is bound by law to consider the cost every year, but he “doesn’t envisage any further increases for quite a while”.
Cllr Dowd added: “We’ve now got to the stage where thousands of people are being made redundant, so when you think about a 10p rise it puts it in perspective.
“With the greatest respect to MTUA, and they’re entitled to their feelings, we’ve got to look at the bigger picture here.”
THE WIRRAL NEWS