ULEZ is here, let’s move on
It’s hard to recall an issue that in living memory has affected so few people for the attention it has generated.
You would’ve had to be living under a rock this week to not know that the ULEZ charge expanded to all of Greater London this week, bringing with it a daily £12.50 charge for those who do not meet the emissions standards.
Nine out of 10 cars on the road in outer London will not have to pay a single penny to keep doing what they are doing, but you wouldn’t know it given the media attention and focus on a vocal minority.
Sure, we led with it on our front page this week, but it directly affects the area we cover, and more importantly, is a small victory for Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who lost her daughter Ella because of air pollution at the age of nine after they lived on the South Circular Road in Lewisham.
South London Press has campaigned for cleaner air for years and will continue to keep doing so.
There will be people who are negatively impacted by this decision, and the system is by no means perfect yet.
Especially the fine tuning needed around blue badge users and transport for disabled people.
For those people who are adversely impacted by ULEZ, we will continue to report on those stories.
But also for those people who are affected, £160million has been allocated to help them find a new, less polluting car.
That is a lot of money. Up to £2,000 to scrap a polluting vehicle to make the air cleaner for everyone is a good deal.
There are many people in the capital whose low incomes mean they can’t even afford a vehicle and they are the ones typically living in the most polluted areas.
People seem to have forgotten that its intention is to save lives and prevent diseases.
In a year’s time everyone will be used to it, no one will care, and we’ll be talking about the next thing that drives people potty for some reason.
Now that it’s here, let’s stop using it as a manufactured political issue and move on.
The Spirit of South London
South London Press
Picture: TfL
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