Background: London’s mayor Ken Livingston had just introduced a congestion charge of five pounds per car per day in an effort to try and reduce the huge amounts of traffic that was bringing the capital to a standstill. Here in Aston Abbotts we have been equally concerned about traffic levels. A recent traffic survey had shown that 200 cars pass through the village during each morning rush hour!

New Charge For Residents

Scenes of a very disturbing nature were witnessed at last month's extraordinary meeting in the Church Room, as a controversial new charge was adopted in Aston Abbotts and now looks set to become a part of our daily lives.

Despite the meeting receiving its usual publicity on the noticeboard outside of the shop, just 13 members of the public turned up to witness the measure being forced through. It is feared that many more residents are unaware of just what has taken place and will be shocked when the full impact of the charge hits home.

Although continual shouting and barracking from enraged members of the public at times drowned out the debate, the chairman's casting vote carried through the contentious measure in just eleven minutes. There was fury from the floor as desperate pleas to exempt residents of The Green were ignored.

Once the measure comes into force, all motorists travelling or parking on any part of the rectangle of roads around The Green - the roads that will soon be marked with a large white `C' on a red road surface - will be required to pay the full charge of 50 pence per day. Public anger and hostility has been fuelled not by the charge itself, but by the fact that Aston Abbotts residents will not be exempt. A spokesman for the protestors described this as, "deeply unfair... a disgrace", predicting that many will leave the village and "jobs will be lost!"

All motorists will now have to stop to pay the Aston Abbotts Congestion Charge. The Clerk has been authorised to go to Dixons and buy four Polaroid cameras to photograph motorists who fail to stop. A team of volunteers willing to photograph non-paying motorists or parkers is being recruited. Please get in touch if you would like to help man the cameras.

Although some see this measure as unnecessary urbanisation of our village, it was perhaps inevitable following a visit by village dignitaries to assess the success of Ken Livingston's original London congestion charging scheme.

We have been promised that we will be told the commencement date for the charge before we go to press. See the What's On column on the inside back cover for latest news of the start date. [I’m sure I needn’t tell you that the start date was given as the 1st April]