The London Borough of Richmond is set to scrap its CO2-related parking charge scheme three years after the previous Liberal Democrat administration pioneered the initiative.
The Conservative-run council claims the scheme failed in its aim to encourage residents to change their cars to lower emission models. Richmond is still London’s worst polluting borough for CO2, with more cars in the highest polluting band than when the scheme started, it says.
The CO2 scheme, which applies to controlled parking zones within Richmond, was subsequently adopted by Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Haringey Lambeth, York, Brighton and Edinburgh councils.
The council says it is not ‘anti-environment but this scheme has proved it is not the way to achieve real change to emissions levels’, a spokesman said.
Council leader, Nicholas True, said: ‘We need effective green policies that help, not hurt. If we are to fight climate change and engage public support in it, we need policies that apply to all and discourage use of large-polluting vehicles. Richmond’s CPZ tax utterly failed that test.
‘It is regressive. It hurts residents in smaller terraced houses in a minority of roads with controlled parking, while letting those in big houses with drives off scot-free, no matter how many gas guzzlers they owned.’
Instead, as part of a package of ‘Fair Parking’ policies, the council plans to introduce 30 minutes free parking to local residents where on-street and off-street sites are levied.
The council’s new parking policies will go before the cabinet on 12 July.
You can avoid having to pay high London parking fees and fines and find free parking in London by using the Tube and our text service to find free parking near tube stations outside the congestion zone.
Simply text the word Parking and the name of a tube station OUTSIDE THE CONGESTION ZONE to 80039 and you’ll receive a text back giving you three locations near the tube, or the one closest to it on the same line.