The controversial charge will see most categories of motorist paying £5 to enter the charging zone after 7am on weekdays, including customers of the wholesale markets.
New Spitalfields is doing its best to lessen the blow on market users. 'We changed our opening hours in December and we are now open from midnight instead of 3am,' explained Jim Heppel of the market's tenants' association. 'This means that people can come onto the market, load up and get back to their shops before the charge comes in at 7am. Since December, we don't seem to have had any problems with the new hours and tenants can choose whether or not they want to open that early. As it is, the market is open for deliveries virtually 24 hours.' Like Spitalfields, New Covent Garden has made representations to London's mayor Ken Livingstone and the relevant government departments both individually and through the Association of London Markets.
'We have lobbied on the grounds that food is essential,' explained the Covent Garden Market Authority's Helen Evans. 'Because New Covent Garden is on the boundary of the zone, many of our market workers do not have the option of public transport in order to get here between midnight and 2am. This means they must use private cars and when they leave the market and return through the zone, they have to a pay a penalty.' Covent Garden's core business is now catering distribution with many tenants' clients located within the charging zone. 'Those with clients in the zone will have to pass on the costs,' warned Evans. 'We will just have to watch the situation very closely, especially as we are just on the border of the zone, we have no idea what traffic flows will be like along the perimeter.' The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is also making its views known, accusing Livingstone of gambling with the future of small and medium-sized retailers in London.
'The capital's small retailers provide an extensive range of community services and are essential to the character and diversity of the modern high street,' said BRC director general Bill Moyes. 'With low margins and increasing economic uncertainty, many small retailers may be unable to bear the burden of the additional costs the charge will bring.' The Freight Transport Association, which has unsuccessfully campaigned for a commercial-vehicle exemption, maintains its members have already invested in every available economy of consolidating loads, out-of-hours deliveries and other efficiency measures to reduce congestion and describes the charge as a 'stealth tax'. It says the scheme is therefore unlikely to impede business.
And Transfrigoroute UK (TUK) has urged its members to take a proactive stance against the threat of increased costs as a result of the charge.
The company believes that a special dispensation should be made where it is not feasible to alter delivery times in line with traffic peaks and troughs.
TUK is therefore calling for its members who are affected in this way to contact the organisation with an estimation of the impact they believe the charge will have on their business.
