Brent to shift drivers away from diesel through parking charge

Brent council has unveiled plans to charge the owners of diesel cars an additional £50 per year for an on-street parking permit in a bid to encourage residents to shift away from diesel vehicles.

The west London local authority launched a consultation last week on proposals for residents’ parking permits and charges, which have been drawn up to ‘manage high levels of demand for parking spaces and reduce air quality’ in the borough.

£50 parking permit charges for diesel drivers are set to be introduced in Brent from October 2018

Plans had initially been tabled for the introduction of a £25 diesel car surcharge, but the council has instead opted to up this to £50 from this October, increasing to £75 in October 2019 and then £100 in October 2020.

Proposals were approved by councils at a meeting in March. The council had previously discussed similar measures in 2016 (see airqualitynews.com story), although these plans were never brought forward.

Currently on-street parking permits currently cost residents between £25 for the lowest emission cars (with Co2 emissions of lower than 110g/km) and £237 for cars deemed to be ‘high’ emitters (more than 201g CO2/km). The additional diesel surcharge would be levied on top of these initial charges.

Air pollution

According to the council, diesel vehicles are one of the principal sources of NO2 and particulate matter air pollution in the borough.

Commenting on the proposals, Councillor Krupa Sheth, Brent’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “We’re serious about our commitment to improve air quality, and better manage on-street parking in all areas of the borough.

“We believe these changes will help to persuade residents with diesel cars to switch to less polluting alternatives.”

Westminster council is among the other London boroughs to have targeted diesel car drivers through an increased parking charge, following a pilot scheme in its Marylebone Low Emission Neighbourhood (see airqualitynews.com story).

According to Westminster, the pilot, which focused on pre-Euro 6 diesels saw a 16% decrease in their numbers parking in the zone. Plans to roll out a surcharge more widely have since been put out for consultation, with a decision expected in the coming months.

In the north of London, Islington council has introduced an annual diesel surcharge on resident permits, which from April 2018 increased to £99.65.