A vote was supposed to take place on Thursday the 3rd of November on an increase to the toll that could see drivers charged an extra 30p per trip to use the crossing, the verdict, however, had to be put on hold after it emerged that there would not be enough councillors present at the transport meeting to make the decision binding. A spokesperson for Transport North East said: “The Tyne and Wear Sub Committee is a relatively small committee made up of five members, as such, it has a disproportionately high quorum of four… The new date of the meeting isn’t expected to affect the implementation of items on the agenda.”
The proposals were rescheduled for November 15, after it became clear that Thursday the 3rds meeting of the North East Joint Transport Committee’s Tyne and Wear sub-committee would not be binding and it was agreed that the toll would go up by the agreed amount but not until next spring.
Philip Smith, chief executive of Tyne Tunnel operator TT2, said the change was needed because of rising inflation levels and the fact that the electricity bill is expected to rise to an ‘astonishing’ £1 million but had suggested that the increase be pushed back from February next year to May in order to avoid putting struggling residents under further financial strain over the winter… We fully understand that everyone and every organisation is going through massive cost increases at the moment. The deferment is the best we can do as a committee to at least try and alleviate the pressure.”
Committee chairman Carl Johnson, deputy mayor of North Tyneside, also commented that decision-makers would not be upping the toll “if we were not contractually and legally bound to”.