"Redonda" wrote in message
...
Paul Terry wrote:
snip

According to the BBC yesterday, the suggestion came from TfL:

A TfL spokesman told BBC News Online: "This is just an idea at
the moment but we want to bring the benefits central London
has seen, as a result of congestion charging, to other areas
of London affected by heavy traffic."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3362683.stm

What benefits? Local shops closing due to massive reductions in passing
trade and higher delivery costs, companies moving out of London to reduce
costs of reps' cars and staff lateness due to poor public transport links,
etc.

Like Gordo I also live in E14 and our local Press has been warning us for
the last year that the CCZ could be extended eastwards at least as far as
the Blackwall Tunnel bringing one of the poorest areas in the UK into the
zone. Local shops have already been decimated as Tower Hamlets Council
have
raised shop/business rents and Business Rate Council Tax astronomically

Business Rates (the property tax for commercial premises) aren't set by
local councils but by the Government.

Council Tax (the property tax for homes) is set by local councils but its
level is determined mainly by the level of Government grants which cover the
vast majority of council spending.

Local councils have a legal obligation to set commercial rents at a
'commercial level' i.e. as high as possible. If councillors try to keep
commercial rents artificially low then they can be taken to court and
surcharged.

PaulO