I HAVE read the many letters that have appeared in The Bolton News about the Transport Innovation Fund with great interest.

It is clear from your correspondents that views on the TIF and associated congestion charge transcends all political opinions and parties. Cllr Hayes, the Lib Dem Leader, states that his yes vote is not necessarily the views of other Lib Dems, and from the Labour party point of view, our MPs and councillors across the region have expressed their independent opinions.

However, to read the comments by the local Tory Leader, Cllr John Walsh, one would think that the Conservative Party is opposed to the concept of congestion charging. They aren’t. The Conservatives produced a document last December entitled “Getting around — Britain’s Great Transport Frustration”. In that document, they state quite clearly that they “accept the principal of road pricing”. They say they would not enter government with the intention of scrapping such schemes, and “it is possible that a Conservative government would add to these schemes”.

In addition, current Tory leader David Cameron has quite clearly stated: “Britain now needs a concerted programme of road building, including new solutions for road charging based on usage and the time of day”. This is exactly what the Greater Manchester proposals equate to.

It is quite clear, therefore, that local Bolton Tories are playing a two-faced game with the electorate of this borough. The local Tory stance represents one of the worst examples of an attempted “hood-wink” of the population I have ever witnessed. Although I am not in the least surprised.

My own view, for the record, is that I have voted on balance in favour of the proposals as, for all its downsides — such as lack of detail on the investments, the TIF of £3 billion would equate to the biggest ever investment in public transport this borough and region has ever seen.

I simply do not believe that another offer would materialise for the foreseeable future, and we would have to continue to make do with substandard buses and trains.

Despite the pontificating of Cllr Walsh that it should be funded from mainstream taxation, what he doesn’t tell you is that the investment for Bolton alone would mean a council tax rise of 15 to 30 per cent. So the reality is that if the referendum is lost, then we either seriously consider Cllr Walsh’s idea of a huge council tax hike or accept that future discussions on investment in public transport could be a non-starter.

Cllr Nick Peel

Tonge With The Haulgh Ward