Last Tuesday, I joined a group of campaigners from the Tamar Toll Action Group to give evidence to the “inspector” who will advise the Secretary of State for Transport whether or not to allow the Tamar Tolls to be increased by 15 per cent from £2.60 to £3.00.

This public inquiry was possibly our last chance to stop it.

Council officers and their professional advisors presented their case to the inspector, arguing that without extra income, they would soon run out of money to pay for essential maintenance and upgrades.

Several members of the Tamar Toll Action Group challenged the way the officers have managed the crossings. TTAG chair Scott Slavin drew upon his own professional experience of ship maintenance to poke huge holes in the proposed spending plans.

A lone Labour Party volunteer read out a letter from South East Cornwall MP Anna Gelderd, but the lack of MPs in the room sent a very clear message. After making the tolls such a prominent part of their election campaign, this was a real let down. There was just one vote in Parliament on Tuesday, and the government won it by 348 votes, despite 48 Labour MPs not being present, so there is really no excuse for any of our local MPs not to be in Plymouth at the public inquiry.

I was there from start to finish, and challenged every single one of the councils’ witnesses. At 5pm, I had the last word, summing up the case against the toll rise:

“The figures upon which this application is based are fundamentally flawed:

“On the spending side, the officers would have you believe that the electrification of one of the ferries is essential, as is the fire protection system and the major refurbishment of the toll booths. They even want to factor in an early date for replacing the ferries. But today we have learned that these are all discretionary projects which don’t need to be brought forward right now.

“On the revenue side, the projections for vehicle numbers fail to consider several significant factors, including the commitment in Cornwall Council’s own Transport Strategy that car journeys should fall by 5% per year from now to 2030.

“Just two weeks from now, the Chancellor will announce the budgets for the Strategic Highway Network, for devolution and for our local Councils. But right now, we simply don’t know what funding will be available. Therefore I hope you will agree with me that whilst toll increases cannot be permanently ruled out, they are not justified right now.”

If he does, there may be light at the end of the (Saltash) tunnel...

Colin Martin

Liberal Democrat Cornwall Councillor for Lostwithiel and Lanreath