THE PUBLIC are to decide whether to scrap, keep or change the western extension to London's congestion charge zone, it has been announced.
A five-week £500,000 consultation, starting in September, will decide the future of the western extension, new London Mayor Boris Johnson has confirmed.
Commenting on the announcement, Mr Johnson said: "Options will range from keeping it to scrapping and I will expect there could be a series of modification in between.
"My feeling during the (mayoral) campaign was that people's indignation was particularly in West London where people felt the thing was imposed against their wishes. This is an exercise in democracy."
Mr Johnson, who visited a west London shopping centre to canvass some views, said he was keeping an "open mind" and added: "I think we will get an interesting result from this."
London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, predicted that the earliest any possible changes could be made if there was a vote to scrap the £8 schemes would be late 2009.
Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone doubled the zone in February 2007 by taking it into Knightsbridge, Kensington and Notting Hill despite mass opposition from businesses and residents. The western extension cost £100 million to implement.
Mr Hendy said: "This (consultation) is going to cost something like a third to half a million pounds. I think that he (Mr Johnson) is very genuine about advising by the results. Stopping something is relatively cheap, starting something is expensive."
