Drivers of diesel vehicles will have to pay £150 more for parking permits after Merton Council approved a new diesel levy to tackle air pollution.

However, the Merton Conservatives have criticised the council for failing to consult with residents and accused their opponents of breaking a 2014 manifesto promise to freeze resident and visitor parking permits for the next four years.

The total cost of the levy, which will apply to resident, business and trade parking permits, will be phased in over a period of three years, beginning with an initial charge of £90 in April this year.

Wimbledon Times:

Merton Council will introduce an initial £90 levy in April

This charge will rise to £115 for 2018/19, before reaching £150 in 2019/20.

In a statement, Merton Council said: “Merton Council is set to introduce a new diesel levy in April 2017 in response to a national health emergency and the Mayor of London’s pledge to cut air pollution in the capital.

“Merton’s resident parking permits have been fixed at £65 since 2010, and remain among the most reasonable in London.

“Now, the council is using its powers in an effort to encourage people to move away from diesel and towards less polluting vehicles.”

It added that money raised would go towards tackling air pollution, local sustainable transport initiatives and infrastructure including cycle lanes.

Merton Council also announced that it will be reducing the permit charge for electric vehicles to £25 a year, and said a network of electric vehicle charging points were currently being installed across the borough.

It added that the levy will be reviewed in two-years time, when a “comprehensive emissions based-parking scheme” may be introduced.

Merton Council’s cabinet member for street cleanliness and parking, Councillor Ross Garrod, said: “The environment and air quality where we live should be something we are all concerned about and must all take a certain amount of responsibility for.

“Bad air quality has been identified as a leading cause of ill health and premature death. We want to do our bit in Merton to encourage people to ensure they drive the least polluting vehicles possible.”

Islington, Kensington, Chelsea and Camden have already introduced a new levy for diesel vehicles, although Merton Conservatives have accused Merton Council of using the levy as “predominantly a revenue-raising measure” and argued that the levy is just £10 in Camden, £19 in Kensington and Chelsea and £96 in Islington.

The Conservatives estimate the charge will have made the council over £2million by 2020.

Merton Conservatives’ efforts to prevent the levy were defeated at an overview and scrutiny meeting on December 14, when the panel voted to press ahead with the charge.

Merton Conservatives’ spokesman for transport, parking and cleaner streets, Councillor Daniel Holden, agreed that air pollution in the borough needs to be reduced and “the principle that the polluter pays is absolutely right.”

However, he added: “Merton Labour’s proposal to hike up the cost of resident parking permits on diesel vehicles is a blunt instrument designed mainly to plug their own budget gap. There is little evidence it will actually improve air quality in the borough and no guarantee that the extra money raised will be used for environmental or anti-pollution measures.

“Instead, it will unfairly penalise diesel vehicle owners regardless of how much they can actually drive their cars and hit hardest those on lower incomes who can’t necessarily afford to upgrade their cars.

“By rushing this in with no consultation and very little notice, Labour councillors are once again treating captive residents in the west of the borough as a cash cow to cover up their own financial mismanagement.”

Residents and businesses parking within Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) will be affected by the new charge, which the Merton Conservatives’ claim lie mainly in the west of the borough.

Merton Council will be consulting on the plans until February 3, 2017.

To read more about the levy, click here. To comment on the plans, email trafficandhighways@merton.gov.uk quoting ES/DIESELLEVY.

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