Richmond upon Thames Council is planning to introduce increased parking permit charges early next year for residents that own cars emitting more than 150g/km of CO2.
Graduated across seven bands, it will mean a 200% increase to £300 a year for drivers of vehicles over 225g/km.
Although it claims the move is driven by environmental concerns, the council will raise an extra £1m a year from residents, which it says will fund green transport initiatives such as walking, cycling and public transport schemes.
The bands have been set in line with the DVLA’s vehicle excise duty levels (click on the table, right), which means vehicles under 100g/km, of which there are none currently on sale, will be given free parking permits, while anything under 120g/km gets a 50% reduction.
Worryingly, there were several inaccuracies in the example document listing which cars fall into which bands. According to Richmond Council, the 7.0-litre V8 Corvette and Mercedes-Benz Viano 3.5-litre MPV don’t fall into the maximum tax bracket populated by cars such as Jaguar’s X-type.
Households requiring a permit for a second car will have to pay 150% of the car’s band valuation. This is to act as a deterrent against a household owning too many cars.
