The Skye Bridge tolls
- the opposition grows.

We at Highlander Web Magazine have followed closely the opposition to the sky-high tolls imposed on the recently-built Skye Bridge, which up until now has principally come through the pressure group SKAT - Skye and Lochalsh Against the Tolls - consisting of the people of the Isle of Skye and the communities on the mainland-side of the bridge. But some of the national politicians and their respective parties, too, have been quick to ''cash in'' on the sound bite opportunities which the grass-roots protest has made available. Now, even the local politicians of all hues and persuasions, via the new Highland Council, are climbing onto the band waggon.

Better late than never, and the avenues and the dialogue the council should be able to open up will certainly give the toll opposition campaign added focus - and hopefully a direct line into the very heart of the Scottish Office.

This, of course, all comes on top of the seperate legal confrontation in the courts currently being waged by SKAT, which has temporarily stalled while awaiting the outcome of an appeal against fines imposed on protestors a couple of months back.

Anyway, Highland Council's stated campaign goal is to persuade the Government that the tolls on the Skye Bridge are unfair and to get the Scottish Office to move towards a toll-free bridge as quickly as is achievable.

Already, what's termed as a working group, led by the council's convener (leader) Peter Peacock, and including the six councillors who represent Skye and Lochalsh, has been set up to promote the campaign. According to the council;

"Highland councillors are committed to challenging the toll regime on the Skye Bridge because they believe the tolls are excessively high and represent an unfair burden on the travelling public, and disproportionately on the people of Skye and Lochalsh. The very real fear is that the tolls will inhibit tourism and the economic development of the area."

The council stresses that it does not oppose the funding of projects through the Government's new Private Finance Initiative (PFI), which is how the money was raised to build the bridge in the first place. But councillors say there should be a fairer system of recovering the private cash used for the bridge construction.

That fairer system is ''shadow tolling'', they say, long advocated by SKAT, where the Government would pay the bridge builders a set amount at the end of a year, which would be dependent on the number of cars crossing. So the users would not have to pay a toll every time they crossed and the overall burden would be equally shared with the rest of the taxpayers across the country.

Given the economic fragility of the Skye and Lochalsh area, that would be a welcome move indeed, as evidence mounts that the tolls are hitting hard. Fair enough, most of the evidence of tourists turning away from the bridge when they realise the cost of crossing is anecdotal. But that situation will surely change because of the Highland Council now being on board the band waggon. For they have the money to gather such evidence, if it's really there.

The council is to commission an economic study to establish the effect of the tolls and its impact on the economy of the area. The study will also take a hard look at the Government's own figures for future growth of the area when the cost of the bridge is paid for some time well into the new century, comparing these projections with the benefits of introducing a shadow tolling scheme now.

Part of the study will also include traffic surveys on several days of the summer to record the proportion of vehicles turning back at the toll booth and a survey of visitor attitudes, to find out whether their decision or not to visit Skye was affected by the tolls.

Touring coach operators will also be asked whether the tolls have had any increase or decrease in their tours to Skye.

As part of the council's campaign, they've published figures comparing tolls on other bridges across the country. The toll charges make fascinating reading.

The cost of crossing the Skye Bridge in summer, the high season toll, is 5.20p - ONE WAY. This compares to 4.30 during the low season. Compare the figure to the one-way toll crossing of the much costlier Severn Bridge in England of 1.85p; the Humber 1.60p; the Erskine Bridge 0.60p; the Forth Road Bridge 0.40p; and the Tay Bridge 0.40p.

The toll cost for a one-way coach crossing of the Skye Bridge during the high season is a staggering 37.50p. During the low season, the figure drops to 24.40p. On the Humber the coach cost is 6.50p; the Severn 5.55p; the Forth 1.00; the Tay 1.00; and the Erskine a mere 0.60p.

For goods lorries, a one-way Skye Bridge crossing costs 25.40p in both the high and low seasons. The cost tocross the Humber in England is 10.90p; the Severn 5.55p; the Forth 1.00p; the Tay 1.00p; and the Erskine a trifling 0.60p.

Is there little wonder there's so much opposition in theHighlands and that the whole issue has become so politically hot?. The toll charges speak for themselves.

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