Town hall approves plans forcing diesel drivers to pay more
By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter
A council has approved plans to charge diesel drivers £2.50 more to park on its streets.
Hammersmith and Fulham council on Monday night green lit changes to parking charges that will hit drivers with polluting cars hardest.
The scheme – which will slash parking charges for up to 80 per cent of residents but mean those with older, high-emission vehicles will face the same fees – passed with a unanimous vote by councillors last night.
The local authority hopes that the move will help residents with the cost of living crisis and help the council to achieve its net carbon zero 2030 target.
Labour council leader Stephen Cowan praised the scheme, which he claimed would cut the cost of parking “in real terms”.
He said during the Cabinet meeting: “It’s worth taking into account that this is not just a cut in real terms, it’s an actual cut. Significantly more than anyone has ever made to parking charges [in the council’s history].”
“Two ways to tackle climate change is to limit the way people drive and also to encourage people to transport around with cleaner transport like cycling”.
Deputy leader Ben Coleman said the measures were being introduced after the borough “was being used like a parking lot”.
The measures are expected to take effect by the end of March this year.
Under the proposals, electric vehicles will be charged £2.50 per hour to park in the borough while ULEZ-compliant vehicles will see fares cut from £5 per hour to £3.50 per hour or £4.25 per hour depending on their CO2 emissions.
A £6 per hour charge will be applied to the most polluting vehicles. Diesel drivers will be charged an extra £1 per hour surcharge due to the “extremely negative impact of diesel vehicles on air quality.”
At the height of the Covid pandemic, Hammersmith and Fulham council introduced higher parking charges to put off out-of-borough motorists driving into London from the A3, M4 and M40.
Residents have told councillors and officers that they have felt put off from visiting friends and services by the high cost of parking.
The report added that older and disabled residents have been particularly impacted by the high charges.
(Picture: rawpixel)
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