When Lambeth became London’s first borough to declare a “climate emergency”, residents were promised a cleaner, greener future.
So far, the reality has proved somewhat less enticing: they’ve been hit with higher parking fees.
Since 2019’s declaration, Lambeth Council has dramatically expanded its use of so-called controlled parking zones (CPZs) in areas where parking was previously free. These zones now cover more than two thirds of the borough.
Under these types of schemes, residents must pay a fee to park outside their own homes. But Lambeth’s zones, which aim to boost “resilience to climate change”, add additional charges based on a vehicle’s emissions as well.
It can mean a permit for a classic city car such as the Fiat 500 costs £164 per year, while owners of bigger cars like the Range Rover Evoque must pay up to £487.
Even parking permits for electric vehicles, which generate no tailpipe emissions, can set households back £128 annually.
These fees are charged on top of council tax – which came to £1,865 last year for a typical property in Lambeth – and can quickly pile up next to other costs such as car insurance and vehicle excise duty.
With so much of the borough now covered by CPZs, critics argue the permits have become stealth taxes in all but name as the cash-strapped local authority struggles with debts approaching £1bn.
According to the Lambeth Council’s own figures, the annual surplus from parking income has more than doubled to £32.7m since 2019.
“To be honest, it feels like it’s just another opportunity to generate revenue for the council,” says Ian Armstrong, a local resident who has campaigned against the parking changes as well as low-traffic neighbourhoods.
“I would support CPZs that reduced commuter parking traffic and only charged enough to cover administrative costs. But in Lambeth, they’re charging exorbitant rates based on emissions, which I don’t think is appropriate, and they’re making profits from it.
“They did a consultation for one CPZ where more than 90pc of people were opposed, but they still decided to go ahead with it. People don’t want this.”
Lambeth is just one of a string of local authorities across England – including two thirds of London’s borough councils – that have begun imposing emissions-based parking schemes in the name of net zero.
Cities that have imposed similar rules include Bristol, Bath and Brighton, where a permit for diesel cars with the highest emissions costs more than £1,000 per year.
At the same time, some English councils are eyeing different kinds of measures that instead target the size or weight of vehicles.
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Many are looking approvingly at Paris, where Left-wing politicians have cracked down on the use of 4x4s by tripling the parking fees owners have to pay.
Supporters of these schemes say the argument for them is threefold: a need to cut air pollution and carbon emissions; the growing amount of space big vehicles are taking up in the public realm; and safety.
Modern cars are getting wider and heavier, to the detriment of both our road surfaces and the wellbeing of cyclists and pedestrians, according to Transport & Environment. Research by the campaign group last year found the average width of cars in the UK was growing by about half a centimetre per year. A typical car was 180.3cm wide in 2023, up from 177.8cm just five years previously.
Separately, the International Energy Agency has warned that the growing market share of SUVs – which emit more carbon dioxide than smaller cars – has wiped out emissions reductions that would otherwise have been achieved through improvements to engine efficiency.
Oliver Lord, head of the UK’s Clean Cities Campaign, argues that bigger, taller cars are also a growing danger to pedestrians and cyclists, citing an academic study that suggested the reduced visibility over and around the bonnet was causing more collisions.
He also points out that the majority of city dwellers often don’t drive.
Rather than being obsessed with revenue, he says many council leaders are being forced to step in to restrain a car industry that has shown little inclination to address pollution and other issues that are causing problems for urban areas.
“There’s a bit of a double whammy in cities, where you’ve got more and more cars and they are also getting bigger and bigger,” explains Lord.
“There was also clearly a failure of regulation at a national or international level to resolve the excessive pollution coming from diesel engines. That’s what has led to some of these clean air zones.
“In the end, if you’re a city leader at the coalface having to deal with these issues on your doorstep, you’ve got to use the tools that you’ve got. And the same applies, to some extent, to parking charges.”
Bigger cars take up more physical space, he adds, with half of all cars sold in 2023 not able to fit within the minimum-sized on-street parking spaces (about 180cm) that are common in built-up urban areas.
This means vehicles poke out into the road, narrowing the available carriageway and contributing to traffic jams.
“This is not about going after every car,” Lord says. “It’s about the ones that are exceptionally dangerous, or exceptionally polluting.”
Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has similarly argued that an Ultra Low Emission Zone is needed in Britain’s capital to improve air quality, although there is mixed evidence that the scheme’s introduction will have a significant impact.
Across all of England, it is difficult to measure the full scope of parking charges that factor in emissions because they are not centrally reported and each council takes a different approach.
However, data collated by the Taxpayers’ Alliance found that the amount raised by local authorities from on-street parking rose by 27pc between 2011 and 2022 to £597m per year. (The figure excludes fixed penalty notices.)
Benjamin Elks, a spokesman for the campaign group, argues that these rising charges amount to a thinly-disguised “war on motorists”.
“As residents face inflation-busting rate rises, local authorities seem to be doing everything they can to squeeze household finances,” he says.
“Councils should focus on delivering frontline services and controlling their spending rather than demanding more and more from hard-pressed taxpayers.”
The Local Government Association, which represents councils, defends CPZs as a useful tool for tackling traffic and parking issues “in high demand and problem areas”.
A spokesman says income raised through parking must be spent first on running parking services, with any surplus funds primarily spent on transport schemes such as fixing roads and local bus services.
For its part, Lambeth Council has also argued its “kerbside strategy” – which aims to reduce the amount of road space given over to car parking in favour of bike racks and planters – is a fairer way to allocate space given that only 40pc of households in the borough own vehicles.
A spokesman says: “Lambeth is taking bold decisions to make all our neighbourhoods safer and healthier for everyone, especially young children and the elderly, who are the most vulnerable to road danger and the effects of air pollution.
“A quarter of carbon emissions in Lambeth come from road transport, and big changes are needed to reduce this over the next few years.
“Parking charges are set to manage kerb-space demand and also encourage behaviour change.
“Emissions-based charges for kerbside parking permits are part of ongoing efforts to improve air quality and create a fairer, more equal borough.”
The council said it had “thoroughly engaged with – and listened to – the local community” during the development of new CPZs, adding: “We are confident that we have complied with all legislative requirements.”
To many residents, the authority’s crackdown on vehicle ownership seems neither welcome nor fair.
Those who own older cars that emit more carbon dioxide are less likely to be affluent, notes Armstrong.
“You don’t have to be rich to have a car, but now you have to find money to be able to park it outside your house.
“I’ve also noticed a lot of single yellow lines have been converted to double yellow lines around the borough.
“The council is trying to reduce the amount of free parking everywhere, to force you to either pay for a permit or pay for parking in one of their car parks.
“They don’t want you to be able to park for free anywhere, it seems.”