Press Release

CAMDEN COUNCIL PLANS NEW ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY MEASURES FOR DRIVERS

10 January 2007

A raft of environmentally friendly parking measures for which the majority of residents could pay less are being considered by Camden Council, to help tackle climate change and local air quality.

The plans aim to encourage residents to choose vehicles with lower CO2 emissions or electric cars, and are amongst the first put forward by local authorities in London and the UK. They include proposals to introduce:

• Cheaper residents’ parking permits for low emission vehicles and higher charges for cars that emit more CO2
• Free annual residents’ parking permits for electric vehicles
• Free short-stay parking in Pay and Display bays for electric vehicles and trials of a few on-street re-charging points for electric vehicles

Cllr Mike Greene, Executive Member for Environment, Camden Council said:

“Camden Council wants to encourage residents to think about the way they get around and the impact that this has on climate change and air quality. To a degree we are saying ‘the polluter pays’, as the minority whose cars are causing greater damage to the environment will be charged more for their parking permits.  But we expect that the majority of Camden residents could actually be paying less.  We want to encourage residents to take alternative transport such as cycling or the bus to help tackle CO2 emissions, but when people do need to drive this offers them an incentive to switch to lower emission cars if possible.” 

He added:

“Those with electric cars would be able to park for free, which is a real incentive to switch from a higher emission vehicle, and we will try out a small number of easier on-street re-charging facilities.  We need to be taking the lead on tackling issues such as climate change and air quality locally, as well as responding nationally, and these new policies propose to take another step in this direction.”

If agreed by Camden Council’s Executive (Environment) Sub Group at its meeting on 23 January 2007, the new residents’ parking permit policy could be introduced by the end of May. Under the scheme, the council estimates that around six out of 10 residents could pay less for their parking permit, whilst the minority who drive higher emission vehicles face higher charges. Electric car drivers would get a free residents’ parking permit, drivers of the lowest tariff cars would pay almost a quarter (22 per cent) less than the current cost of £90 for an annual permit, and the highest emitting vehicles would pay almost two thirds (61 per cent) more.

 If approved, Camden Council would also introduce a new package of incentives for electric car drivers to encourage and promote their use. These would include:

• The annual residents’ parking permit would be free
• Free pay and display/meter parking in Camden for resident electric vehicle permit holders, subject to the existing maximum stay
• Trialling a small number of re-charging facilities for resident electric vehicle permit holders – these would be on the street next to designated parking bays, for the drivers to share and use for a limited time
• Potentially introducing a registration scheme so that those who work and study in the borough could also use re-charging stations and benefit from free short stay parking

Over the last few years, Camden Council has been working hard to tackle CO2 emissions from traffic, cut congestion and improve local air quality. These include cycle training, new and improved cycle routes, walking schemes, school travel plans, local road safety schemes and the council’s workplace green transport strategy.