Reading West MP Martin Salter has joined forces with his Conservative colleague across the river in the Henley constituency in a joint submission to the public inquiry into the proposed toll hike by the Whitchurch Bridge Company. The Company plans to double the toll to 40p for each crossing which represents an effective five-fold increase over the last six years.

In their joint submission Martin Salter and John Howell said:-

“We look forward to this Inquiry as we believe that the Whitchurch Bridge Company has some real questions to answer:  

• Why have the proposed cost of reconstructing the bridge in 2013 more than trebled over the last four years?  
• Considering they had 107 years to plan this rebuild, why was the detailed planning of the reconstruction not done earlier? 
• Why are they increasing the dividends they draw from the company (up 60% over 3 years) whilst asking our constituents to bail out the company by paying a massive extra toll to cover these escalating rebuilding costs?

“We also call on Oxfordshire County Council to look at their role in the planning of this reconstruction.  Also, to look at whether this bridge could be more efficiently maintained as part of all the other bridges in our road network.”

Martin Salter said:-

“I hope the inquiry will come down firmly against this unacceptable hike in the cost of crossing the River Thames for many of my constituents. The last thing that people need in the middle of a credit crunch is an inflation-busting rise simply to pay for the privilege of taking their children to school, going to work, or visiting the doctor’s. At the end of the day, these tolls are a complete anachronism and I would much rather see Oxfordshire County Council operate the bridge as a public highway.”