City opts to think again on gas-guzzler parking charges

TRANSPORT officials have been ordered back to the drawing board over plans to introduce higher parking charges in the Capital for the most polluting models of car.

Councillors have asked for the proposed new charging criteria to be re-examined and for reassurances the scheme would be "revenue neutral".

They also want to know the impact of what they describe as "massive increases" in road tax for so-called "gas guzzlers" before making a decision.

The council will still press ahead with a public consultation on the principles of the proposed scheme, which would see the cost of parking permits double for the most polluting cars. This will get underway in October with councillors then expected to make a decision in February next year. Opposition politicians today claimed the consultation was a way of kicking the scheme "into the long grass".

But city transport leader Phil Wheeler said the wider consultation was a sensible first step in order to allow everyone in the city have their say.

Councillor Steve Burgess, the city's Green Party environment spokesman, said: "I'm dismayed that this scheme has been blocked by the other parties.

"We're in trouble when the council's non-Green parties couldn't even agree to a relatively conservative scheme that would have benefited 80 per cent of vehicle owners.

"At the beginning of the week the council leader Jenny Dawe was arguing in favour of the scheme but now her group have accepted an SNP tactic that kicks the scheme into the long grass.

"The time for dilly-dallying over action to reduce climate pollution should be over."

The council's plans would mean owners of the biggest "gas-guzzlers" would see the cost of an inner zone permit double from the current £160-a-year to £320.

But drivers of the least polluting vehicles in the outer zones could see their charge fall from £80 to just £15.

Residents would also face higher charges for second vehicles.

City centre Conservative Councillor Joanna Mowatt said: "This seems to be another way of taxing people who live in the centre of town who may own large cars, but do not use them in the same way as a commuter in the suburb."

Council officials estimate that more than 11,000 people will pay less under the scheme, with just 3348 residents paying more.

The council expects this to result in a drop in income of nearly £44,000 but councillors have asked them to reassess these figures.

Last week the council's calculations for the scheme were questioned after it emerged that its data is based on DVLA national statistics and figures from the London borough of Camden – which has already adopted a similar scheme – rather than tailored to Edinburgh.

Bruce Young, the Lothian and Borders co-ordinator of the Association of British Drivers, said:

"All of the consultation in the world will not getaway from the fact that people should be able to buy a car on what they need."