Scots parking costs to double 16 | 09 | 2010

    EDINBURGH CITY Council is set to impose new punishing parking penalties on owners of what they label 'gas guzzlers'. If the controversial plans get the green light, owners of cars as run-of-the-mill as a Citroen C6 will have to fork out £320 to park outside their home.

    The plans, which will be put before the council's transport committee next week, were first put forward by Green councillor Steve Burgess in 2008. The charges though have been modified after the council realised it would lose almost £400,000 in parking revenue.

    In simple terms, the bullying approach by Scotland's most anti-car council will see the cost of parking permits for the biggest cars, such as Land Rovers and the Citroen C6, double from £160 a year to £320. The council's simplistic view of the additional charges is it will " encourage motorists to opt for smaller, less-polluting vehicles".

    Drivers of the least polluting vehicles in the outer zones will see their charge fall from £80 to £25, but the new charges would also see residents face higher charges for second vehicles, with a charge of £400 for the most polluting vehicles.

    The council's statement says "around 50% of permit holders would be better off under the scheme", but that obviously leaves around another 50% who are likely to be worse off.

    While drivers of mid-range cars such as the Vauxhall Vectra would see no change to their £160 permits, anyone who drives anything as mainstream as a Saab or even Volkswagen Passats, will see their permits rise to £200.
It will come as no surprise that Edinburgh is the first local authority in Scotland to attempt the move, though a similar 'green parking permit scheme' is already in place elsewhere in the UK, having first been controversially introduced by the London borough of Richmond-Upon-Thames in 2007.

    Ignoring the basic fact that the planned charges do not address the main cause of pollution and will be unfair to families, Edinburgh's transport convener, Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, is happy to hide behind the Scottish Government's target of a 42% reduction in Scotland's CO2 emissions by 2020 as justification for the draconian penalties.

    "As a local authority we have a duty to meet air quality standards and play our part in achieving the target of a 42% reduction in the nation's CO2 emissions by 2020 as set by the Scottish Parliament," Mackenzie said.
"By using CO2 emissions as the basis for our permit charges we hope to encourage the move, which is already being supported by many owners and vehicle manufacturers, towards vehicles which pollute less.
"For the council, this initiative is cost neutral, it is not making any more money but it should help towards achieving our goal of improved air quality and a better environment for residents."
If, as expected, the new permit charges are passed next week, they will be imposed on Edinburgh residents by the end of November.

    Jim McGill

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