Croydon’s Labour-run Council is planning to increase the cost of parking permits, hitting hardest the elderly and low-income residents, and those who rely on driving for work.
Despite the fact cars emit very little pollution when parked, everyone in a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) could be paying up to £300 per year for their first permit and £350 for the second, instead of the £80 and £126 currently charged.
Proposed Emission-Based Parking Charges for CPZ’s taken from March Council Cabinet report
If you drive a regular vehicle like these ones, then you will get hit by higher charges:
Anyone with a car older than 2001, will automatically have to pay £300 per year just to park in your own road. Even hybrid cars that residents have bought to help improve air quality could be hit by a higher charge.
Labour are also increasing parking ticket prices
Parking ticket prices will also increase with every vehicle other than fully electric only cars paying more with a 30% increase and anyone wanting to pay cash at a parking meter or having a vehicle older than 2001 will pay 30% more. Plug-in hybrids will pay the same as most petrol cars and all but the most polluting gas guzzlers.
Proposed Emission-Based Parking for on-street and Council run car parks taken from March Council Cabinet report
Hitting those who can’t afford it
This Labour tax will particularly penalise the elderly and low-income residents who can't afford to buy a new vehicle to fit the new rules. It will also hit those who rely on their vehicles for work, like those in construction or working as drivers. The fear is that these policies will eventually lead to Borough-wide CPZ’s where everyone increases the Council’s revenue just by owning a car.
The consultation runs until 20th June and can be found at this address: https://getinvolved.croydon.gov.uk/project/566
Don't delay - let the Council know what you think today.
What's the alternative?
Labour currently run Croydon Council. In 2022 that could change. Should Croydon Conservatives win, I would work with them to deliver on following four pledges. These pledges will genuinely improve air quality in Croydon without hitting the elderly, those on low-incomes or those who rely on their vehicles for work.
- All developers to include electric charging points for cars in new developments to future proof from digging up the roads and pavements to add in as the technology becomes more widespread.
- Reward hybrid car owners with lower cost parking permits and implement a progressive, rather than the current regressive, licensing scheme.
- Increase the number of trees planted on our streets, improving the feel of a road and helping to continually clean our air.
- Implement a local boiler scrappage scheme. Gas boilers contribute 12% of London's nitrous oxide emissions. New A-rated boilers can save residents £340 in fuel bills per year and are also 90% efficient.
If you agree with us that we should improve Croydon’s air quality - but not at the expense of elderly residents, those on low incomes, or those who rely on their vehicles for work - then sign my petition here!
