A London borough, Richmond, plans to boost parking prices by about 25% for higher CO2 emitting vehicles.
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The Liberal Democrat-controlled authority was the first to vary the cost of residents’ parking permits according to a car’s carbon emissions, which saw some treble in price, the Daily Telegraph said.
At least a dozen authorities across the country have introduced or are considering introducing similar punitive permit charges, causing motorists to accuse cash-strapped authorities of using ‘green issues’ as a convenient excuse to hike charges.
“It is ludicrous to penalise a vehicle on its emissions, when the engine is switched off,” an AA spokesman told the paper.
The organisation voiced concern that the proposed charges would put further pressure on larger families who need bigger cars for everyday life.
“Money is already tight and people with these vehicles are unlikely to be able to afford to replace them. This is hitting a lot of people very hard at a time when they can least afford it.”
Richmond’s proposals will see the owners of larger cars emitting more than 180 grams of CO2 per kilometre paying up to GBP1.90 an hour to park at a meter, the paper said.
This would include anything from a Porsche Cayenne to an array of ordinary family cars such as some Ford Mondeos.
Owners of the ‘greenest’ cars such as the hybrid Toyota Prius and Honda Civic would pay GBP1.20 but drivers will have to register to qualify to pay anything other than the top rate. Council bureaucrats would then check central government records for the vehicle’s ‘official’ CO2 rating.
The Labour government recently faced a backlash for proposing to drastically hike annual road tax for vehicles dating back to 2001 based on CO2 emissions. Critics of that scheme said owners were being penalised now for buying decisions made up to seven years ago.
