A total of 77 councils in Scotland, England and Wales have so far taken up the Highland Regional Council's invitation to write to Prime Minister John Major to complain about the level of tolls on the Skye Bridge.
Many have also contacted Labour Leader Tony Blair urging any future government scrap the tolls and make sufficient public funds available for vital road and bridge projects.
Essex County Council felt well qualified to comment through its experience with the Thames crossing at Dartford. While not opposed to tolls, the council believes that Skye demands a new equitable application of the principles of user pay philosophy.
Also this week, the chairman of the Rail Users's Consultative Committee has admitted that the public hearing in Kyle last year over the withrawal of the ferry service between Kyle and Kyleakin was only a public relations exercise.
A fortnight after the opening of the Skye Bridge and subsequent withdrawal of the ferry, the committee held a public meeting. The committee felt that the tolls were "excessive" and should be substantially reduced and held for several years "at a rate comparable to that charged on other toll bridges or tunnels".
Copyright © Ray Shields, 1996.
Most recent revision, 13 September 1996.