The BBC is reporting today that parking permits will be priced according to the emissions of the car they are being applied to.
"Richmond upon Thames residents with two high-emission cars could pay £750 a year, compared with £200 now, but the greenest cars would be exempt."
Electric cars would be free, cars like the Toyota Prius would be given a 50% discount and people carriers like the Renault Espace would be given a 200% increase.
It's a great idea, but is it open to abuse. Given that parking permits would last around a year, how difficult would it be to register your parking permit under the 'wrong' car? It's not too hard to imagine the purcahse of new cars coming with 'paid for' parking permits. Plenty of garages offer perks for new cars, like no-claims bonuses, or will a whole new industry sprint up offering parking permits, green car loans for the duration of your permit application, for example?
However, it's great to see councils taking action like this. Only last month we repoted that Bournemouth council were
fitting microchips to residents bins in order to charge them for the volume of rubbish they throw out, rather than recycle. It's a clear signal that the Government has told local councils that they can make more money by introducting green taxes like this, which, by itself, is not ideal, but if it results in less emissions and less waste, then that's a great side-effect.
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I like hte "ULV" term...
You're right, I think that there are positives and negatives to this scheme - it does target those that can't afford off street parking, which is wrong, and there are some who need larger vehicles for items such as wheel chairs. Having said that, I think this is a step in the right direction - a council acknowledging that something is necessary and if it isn't being done at national government level (through car tax, where consideration could be taken for things such as people holding a disabled badge therefore being able to have a larger vehicle), then they'll do it locally.
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