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Thick, pungent cloud of hypocrisy in the air
• THERE are fundamental flaws in Islington Council’s decision to hold a referendum to decide the cost of residents’ parking permits based on “how much the car pollutes”.
The first is that, whatever the council says, if the proposal is accepted there is not the slightest evidence that pollution anywhere will be cut one iota. Second, the council has already admitted that the measure would be revenue neutral, so in fact extra money raised from residents with larger cars will be given to those with smaller. Thus, the council is gaining no cash which it could spend on measures which actually reduce pollution.
The whole thing is no more than a gimmick which will appeal to many people who have been encouraged by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and some other small-minded people to “hate the motorist”.
It is reprehensible for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it actually does not do what it claims to do. The Tribune letters pages have already published several cogent arguments showing the complete inanity of the council’s case.
The council’s stated objective totally ignores why some people need larger vehicles, for example to carry less-able-bodied passengers, and presumes anyone with a larger car can afford more, when their costs are already higher.
It is also true that most cars actually pollute far less than their permitted limit – a fact proved by my MOT certificate. Of course, it is anyway not a local issue because it cannot have any effect on pollution caused by the thousands of vehicles passing through the borough daily.
Nobody drives any vehicle because they are intent on polluting the atmosphere and we would all far prefer to drive one which does not. Sadly, as yet we do not seem to have a commercially-available car engine which runs on hydrogen.
Let’s not be fooled by the council’s terminology when it says it is “encouraging” people to switch to less-polluting vehicles. When you fine someone, it is not an encouragement, it is a penalty.
National and local governments are constantly punishing the public for their environmentally “unfriendly” behaviour instead of truly encouraging us to behave otherwise and, of course, providing us with some alternative means by which to do so.
Gordon Brown even increased tax on LPG fuel, making the cost advantage of using an LPG vehicle less than it was before last September. I tried to find out if I could convert my car to LPG but discovered that to have it added to the approved list – the PowerShift Register – I would have to have it tested at a cost of £5,000.
The notion that owners of larger vehicles will be encouraged to change to a smaller less-polluting one is simplistic and takes no account of the environmental cost of replacement. There is, of course, the environmental cost of disposal and the manufacture of more vehicles. Has the council worked all this out?
If one is merely expected to sell one’s old vehicle, one is just passing the problem on to someone else who will presumably continue to pollute.
Of course, the buyer may not be an Islington resident, but I suppose Islington councillors will feel pleased with themselves, which seems to be the main purpose of this stupidity.
Perhaps the council’s parking enforcement officers, who now have many more powers to punish drivers for non-compliance with the Highway Code, might spend some time doing something actually to reduce pollution.
Every other day on the road, one sees one or more vehicles belching out black fumes. Does anyone take the registration numbers and follow these up to ensure owners of these vehicles (including the occasional bus) put them into proper order or, if they cannot, that they are taken off the road?
What is the council doing to reduce the rubbish put through our letterboxes every day, most of which ends up in a vehicle sent round by the council for recycling? One could go on.
Councillor James Kempton says “the council’s priority is listening to Islington”. If the council seriously thinks Islington residents should decide this issue via a referendum, why not others, such as selling off parades of shops? Or is that an issue about which Cllr Kempton thinks they should take no notice of what residents want?
There’s a thick, pungent cloud of hypocrisy in the air and it’s coming from Islington town hall.
RICHARD LEWIS
Oakley Road, N1
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