Councils Rolls Out Parking Charges Based on Emissions-Based Pricing

New cars are parked at a dockyard in Grimsby, northern England, on Jan 30, 2009. (Nigel Roddis/Reuters)

Some cars will have to pay much more for parking permits as councils across England roll out new charges based on CO2 emissions.

Lambeth Council is the latest council to introduce emission-based parking charges, according to the tax band of the vehicle, which is based on the CO2 emissions it produces.

The council said that charges, which were introduced on May 30, are expected to reduce the amount of motor vehicle usage in Lambeth.

It added that the measures will “encourage sustainable alternatives, such as public transport, cycling, and walking, whilst encouraging the use of less polluting vehicles within the borough.”

Many councils are acting out on the UK’s legally binding targets of reaching net-zero by 2050, such as radically reducing carbon emissions by 2030 by phasing out petrol and diesel cars, gas boilers, and by changing people’s diets.

CO2

With the 13 different driver’s tariffs, a diesel surcharge will be applied to diesel-fuelled vehicles that are non-compliant with Euro 6 Emission standards. Residential permits for cars that emit 255g/km+ of CO2 will cost £500 a year, a rise from £340.73. E/V cars will pay £120.21. Owners of cars that emit 122.1/km+ of CO2, the UK’s average, will have to pay £245.16 a year.

Similar bands will be applied for street parking.

RAC reported that Lambeth introduced the changes despite opposition. Out of the nearly 3,000 responses in the consultation, 59 percent objected to the plans.

Lewisham has brought in a scheme as has The City of London Corporation, which introduced new emissions-based parking charges for on-street parking in the Square Mile in 2018.

Bath and North East Somerset Council and St Albans are among those considering similar schemes.

‘Vindictive Parking Taxes’

Reform UK London Mayoral candidate and FairFuelUK founder Howard Cox told The Epoch Times that a “tsunami of anti-driver policies” are growing across the country.

Cox, a lobbyist, and campaigner for motorists, has claimed the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK in 2030 will cost five times more than any environmental benefits. He is also adamantly opposed to London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan to extend the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), a city-wide air pollution-cutting scheme that will charge motorists by the day to drive, to the outer limits of the capital.

“Vehicle Excise Duty is already firmly in place to tax higher emissions vehicles,” he said.

He said that adding “even more punitive pollution charges to park is unnecessary, vitriolic, and yet another easy cash grab” from local councilors.

“Even worse, ignoring public consultation results that showed 6 out of 10 in Lambeth were against these new vindictive parking taxes, is simply deplorable,” he said.

“The tsunami of anti-driver policies flowing out of local authorities, right across the country is growing relentlessly, all implemented against majority opinion.  Political parties be warned, UK’s 37 million drivers vote, and more and more will not be voting Tory or Labour if these draconian policies continue to eat into low-income driver and small business pockets,” said Cox.

C40

London, with many cities around the world and in the UK, has signed up to a global network of mayors “taking urgent action to confront the climate crisis,” called C40 Cities.

In one of its Implementation Guides titled “How cities can put a price on carbon,” C40 says for “polluting vehicles” road pricing for driving or parking on certain roads or in a designated zero- or low-emission zone and is “well-suited to city-scale implementation.”

C40 recommends that “equity” must “be front of mind” when designing these policies.

Lily Tang Williams, a survivor of communist China’s Cultural Revolution and now a congressional candidate for New Hampshire’s 2nd District, told EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” program last year that the push for “equity” or social justice is a guise for “socialist wealth redistribution.“

“Now I notice socialist policies, and today, everybody is talking about ‘equity, equity.’ How can you have equity—which is equal outcome, which I heard in China before—without the government using force to redistribute wealth?” Williams said.

A Lambeth Council spokesman referred The Epoch Times to a statement made in April, on the council-run Love Lambeth site.

On it, Rezina Chowdhury, Lambeth Council deputy leader and Cabinet Member for Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air, said: “We were the first London borough to declare a climate emergency, and we have set a target to slash our carbon emissions to make Lambeth a Net Zero Borough by 2030.

“This new emissions-based pricing structure, along with the forward-thinking Kerbside Strategy and our Air Quality Action Plan (pdf), will ensure Lambeth can continue to tackle toxic air and make our shared spaces fairer and more accessible.

“These changes will make our parking fees structure fairer and more reflective of the different levels of pollution produced by vehicles—and ensure those who pollute the most are charged the most to park.”