Gas-guzzler drivers face up to £450 parking fee

David Adam, environment correspondent
Wednesday October 25, 2006

Guardian

Motorists who drive gas-guzzling cars are to face significant rises in parking fees under a pioneering scheme to tackle climate change. Drivers of the most polluting vehicles will be charged up to £450 a year to park outside their homes under the plan, which marks one of the first serious attempts to penalise people for behaviour that damages the environment.
The scheme, piloted in Richmond upon Thames in south-west London, will be closely watched by local authorities and green campaigners, who hope it will lead to similar moves across the country.

Richard Bourn, of the pressure group Transport 2000, said: "This is the future. The government is already moving in the direction of polluter pays with road pricing and I think we'll see more schemes across the country that target more polluting vehicles in a similar way."

The move comes as the government released a new analysis of the probable impacts of climate change on the UK which says the 2003 heatwave cost the country some £160m.

Richmond council plans to link the price of residents' parking permits - common in built-up areas and congested roads close to schools or railway stations - to the amount of carbon dioxide their car produces. If the plan is approved next month, the owners of the most polluting vehicles, such as a Jaguar X type or a BMW X5, will see the price of annual permits rise from £100 to £300 from January. Households with more than one car will be forced to pay 50% more for extra permits, so a family with two vehicles in the highest polluting band will face parking fees of £750 each year.

The owners of cleaner cars such as a Toyota Prius hybrid will be rewarded with discounts, and drivers of the least polluting vehicles will park for free.

Several councils already offer reduced parking rates for cars with smaller engines, but the Richmond scheme is the first to actively penalise those at the other end of the scale. The council said the move was designed to persuade people to choose a less polluting car. It says the scheme could reduce emissions by 15%.

Tony Bosworth, transport campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said: "Price increases for parking ... do start to hit the level where they could have an impact on behaviour, but the real power to tackle the problem lies with the chancellor."

The government increased car tax for the most polluting vehicles in this year's budget to £210, but campaigners said the rise was too small to have an effect.

Serge Lourie, leader of Richmond council, said: "There will be strongly held views on both sides of the argument; however, we believe it is the right thing to do. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand and pretend that climate change isn't happening or that dealing with it is up to somebody else."

The government study released yesterday warns that climate change will affect almost every aspect of life in Britain, from farming and health to transport and tourism. The series of reports says extreme weather will buckle railway lines, flood routes and cause points to fail. Supermarkets could struggle to source popular foods as patterns of agriculture change and increased levels of drought hit water supplies. It says heavier winter rain could wash away footpaths in the Lake District, while hotter summers would increase the risk of fire in the Peak District.

Ian Pearson, the climate change and environment minister, said: "Awareness is increasing on the need to adapt to climate change and the fact that climate change costs will hit a large number of sectors.

"These studies will add to evidence needed to design effective adaptation responses at a national, local and regional level."

Peter Ainsworth, the Tory environment spokesman, said: "We already know that the costs of climate change are likely to be large and that some measure of adaptation will be necessary. What we don't know is what, if anything, the government is going to do about it."

According to the report, the record-breaking 2003 heatwave cost Britain some £41m in health effects and £150m in damage to buildings and roads. There was some good news: reduced energy use saved consumers £80m, while the tourism industry gained about £38m and the retail sector £3.2m. In one bizarre effect, the less dense hot air forced Concorde to shed weight on take-off, so flights from London to New York had to refuel in Canada.