New parking charges have been approved in Lewisham in a bid to tackle the climate emergency. 

The new banded prices, agreed by mayor and cabinet on Wednesday (January 15), will come into effect in April and mean diesel drivers will pay up to £180 per year for permits, an increase of 150 per cent.   

The council is updating its 2014 parking policy to reduce emissions and improve air quality in the borough.  

Introducing the report on the charges, Councillor Sophie McGeevor, cabinet member for environment and transport, said the council needed to take “radical steps” to tackle the climate emergency in the face of a “public health crisis”.  

The bands are emissions-based and range from electric vehicles in band 1 (zero emissions) to a Range Rover Sport 5.0 V8 Supercharged in band 13 256+CO2g/km.   

Band 2 involves vehicles emitting between 101 and 110 CO2g/km, which rises by 9CO2g/km per band.   

The cost for band 1 starts at £70 per year and increases by £15 per band.   

Diesel drivers – 3,794 in the borough – will have to pay an extra £50 surcharge on top of their parking permit costs unless their cars “conform to the most recent vehicle emissions standards (Euro VI standards or higher)”.   

The current price of a 12-month resident permit is £120.    

Drivers with vehicles in band 1 will pay £70 per year, in band 2 £85 per year, in band 3 £100 per year, in band 4 £115 per year, in band 5 £130 per year, in band 6 £145 per year, in band 7 £160 per year, in band 8 £175 per year, in band 9 £190 per year, in band 10 £205 per year, in band 11 £220 per year, in band 12 £235 per year, and in band 13 £250 per year.    

This means the 153 diesel vehicles in band 13 will face parking charges of £300 per year.  

Business rates will also be banded, with those using electric vehicles saving £200 per year from £500.  

However, any business using vehicles in band 5 – an engine over 1501cc – or higher will face a hike in costs.  

The agreed changes also mean mandatory disbaled bays will be the only type offered in the borough.

The council held two consultations between June and August 2019, one for the public and one for its staff.  

The majority of people agreed that the council should introduce lower rates for lower emission vehicles but 21 per cent strongly disagreed.  

While most people (85 per cent) said they were aware of the health issues posed by diesel cars, only 51 per cent thought there should be a £50 surcharge.  

Concerns were raised that diesel drivers were being “punished” for buying the cars on Government advice.  

The plans also include providing a free 10 hours of visitor parking credit per year only when residents pay for an annual permit – vistors permits are also set to rise from £20 weekly to £25.60.  

It is proposed that Penalty Charge Notices are set at the same cost – £200 – across the borough instead of being divided into band A and band B, a hike of £80 from the highest cost currently.  

But during the consultation some residents said that the charges were already too high.  

The council also wants to charge those who use Pay and Display the same rate at £2 per hour, regardless of whether they use cash or card.  

Currently, card users are charged an extra 20p per hour at £1.60, while cash users pay £1.40.  

The number of Pay and Display machines will also be significantly reduced because they are more that 15 years old and “many are beyond repair”.  

“The cost of replacing all the machines would be in the region of £850,000,” according to the council, which has temporarily taken nearly half of 191 machines out of action to gauge public response after a surge in cashless transactions. 

Cllr McGeevor said she was “really proud” of the responses to the consultation on the charges and of 61 per cent of respondents who agreed the council was right to introduce lower rates for parking permits to vehicles with lower emmissions. 

She also cited the 78 per cent of those who agreed the council should encourage people to drive lower emmission vehicles.