Liberal Democrat Council Proposes Green Tax Switch For Residents Parking

8.18.05pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 25th Oct 2006

Cllr Serge Lourie, Leader of Lib Dem Richmond upon Thames Council

Richmond upon Thames Council in southwest London has drawn up proposals to charge more for residents' parking permits for those with cars that produce higher CO2 emissions and less for the least polluting cars.

Under the proposals, to go before the Liberal Democrat-run council's cabinet on 6 November, those with the lowest emitting vehicles will pay nothing while others will qualify for reductions of up to 50%. There will be a sliding scale for higher emission vehicles with the highest being charged up to three times what they currently pay for their annual parking permits.

Also contained in the report are proposals to charge households an extra 50% for permits on second and subsequent cars - on top of the adjusted payments for emissions.

The proposals, if implemented, will be a national first and are part of the administration's commitment to put sustainability at the heart of everything it does.

Speaking about the proposals Cllr Serge Lourie, Leader of Richmond upon Thames Council said:

"Climate change is the single greatest challenge facing the world today. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand and pretend that it is not happening, or that dealing with it is up to somebody else. And Richmond upon Thames is one of the highest CO2 emitting boroughs in London.

"For too long, it has been seen as a problem that only central governments or international organisations could address. The truth is that we must all start acting now at local level.

"First and foremost, we must identify what we can do and there is a lot that can be done locally that will make a real difference.

"Second, this is about showing real leadership - local government has an increasingly pivotal role to play, with our communities, in this and other important issues. We must continue to think global but act local.

"We believe that there would be a 15% cut in emissions if everybody bought a car one band lower than they have at present.

"These proposals will be considered by our cabinet on 6 November, and we are committed to consulting widely with residents and local businesses in the coming months. I hope as many people as possible will consider the issues and let us have their views.

"I am under no illusions that there will be strongly held views on both sides of the argument - this is no easy win. However, we believe it is the right thing to do and, following consultation, it is our hope to be in a position to implement the proposals by the New Year."

Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesman on the London Assembly, Geoff Pope, welcomed the announcement by Richmond Council, saying:

"I urge other London boroughs to follow Richmond's carbon charging in a drive to encourage motorists to switch over to low polluting vehicles.

"This is the sort of innovative local action that is essential to fight global warming. We also need much more urgency from the government to stop stalling over national environmental measures like road user charging."