TIF result: Greater Manchester says 'no'

Greater Manchester voters have rejected the Transport Innovation Fund proposals unanimously, with every single district voting against the proposals by a considerable margin.  With the final votes counted, a staggering 79% of votes were cast against the proposals, 21% in favour (an interesting comparison with the Edinburgh referendum where 74.4% of votes were cast against).

The overall turnout was 53.2%, roughly comparable to a General Election, with Trafford seeing the highest turnout of 63.6% and Wigan the lowest of 45.3%. In total, just over a million people voted.

The result of this vote means that the TIF proposals, in their current form at least, cannot proceed. What this means for transport investment in the area is unclear - Transport Secretary, Geoff Hoon, recently stated that a 'no' from the people of Greater Manchester would mean no central Government funding. Some of the proposed improvements can still go ahead with existing funding but the majority are likely to be shelved unless a compromise of some sort can be reached.

The result is likely to have repercussions across the country with other large conurbations waiting on this result to determine whether they push ahead with their own congestion charging plans.