London mayoral candidate and outspoken commentator on congestion charging to visit North Shore City

The Conservative candidate for Mayor for London, Steven Norris, will visit North Shore City next month and address a major transport conference.

An outspoken commentator on London's congestion charging scheme, Mr Norris claims the scheme is in financial disarray. On his campaigning website, he says the scheme is proving disastrous for shops and restaurants inside the zone - "and now it seems it's a financial disaster too".

Steven Norris is the UK Government's Chair of the National Cycling Strategy Board, and will be keynote speaker on the first day of the national cycling conference being held on October 10 and 11 at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna.

A former Minister for Transport in London and Minister for Local Transport and Road Safety, he was only recently confirmed as the Conservative Party candidate for Mayor of London for the elections, which are scheduled for June 2004. He will be standing against incumbent Ken Livingston.

The Minister of Transport, Paul Swain, will open the NZ national cycling conference and Mr Norris will be meeting with transport officials and politicians in Wellington and Auckland during his visit.

The national conference will feature a number of other speakers and topics including a political panel discussion. It will focus on the first New Zealand Cycling and Walking Strategy, which will form a background to the programme and is due for release in the next few weeks.

The draft strategy will be in its consultation phase at the time of the conference and the government has a $3.8m fund for walking and cycling initiatives.

Delegate registrations are still being accepted for the conference. Copies of the full conference programme and registration form are available on-line from www.cycling-support.org.nz

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