There is a scheme currently being run in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames in which parents of non-green cars are being charged to park in bays outside schools. The scheme links the price of school parking permits to their engine’s CO2 emissions. The parking permit will remain to be free for parents driving green cars (what the CO2 emission limit will be at this moment in time is unclear but it is expected to be around the 150g/km/160g/km mark).
If this trial proves successful the scheme will be rolled out across the UK. Campaign groups and motoring organisations have not welcomed the plans; Sheila Ranger of the RAC Foundation said “This is yet another stealth tax that is hitting the family budget. For many parents, it is necessary to have a large car as they have three children who need car seats.”
A spokesman for the local council defended the scheme by saying “The Government is trying to reduce school-run car use and we support it. We want to drive down carbon-dioxide emissions and become the most sustainable county in the country.”
