Senior Enfield councillors have written a joint letter to the Mayor of London, to ask for additional support for vehicle owners who need urgent help to meet cleaner air standards ahead of the extension of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
Leader of the Council, Cllr Nesil Caliskan and the Cabinet Member for Environment Cllr Rick Jewell have voiced concerns that, despite 76 per cent of registered vehicles in Enfield being ULEZ compliant, many of Enfield’s residents and businesses will miss out on the existing £110 million outer-London vehicle scrappage scheme.
Councillors say in the letter, “We have heard from parents who need support to switch their family car, small businesses looking to retrofit their fleet but cannot meet the August deadline, and other organisations who want to do the right thing but cannot afford to make the switch and do not meet the criteria.”
They also call for the government to support the Mayor of London to provide the Capital with an adequate scrappage scheme, as it has done in Birmingham and Bradford.
“However, to make the expansion of ULEZ a success, and ensure there is no detriment to our residents who want to do the right thing, we call on you to review the current scrappage scheme criteria,” the letter says.
Currently, the vehicle scrappage scheme supports Londoners on certain low income or disability benefits, eligible micro businesses, sole traders and charities with a registered address in London. Anyone else will be liable to pay the £12.50 daily charge to enter the low emission zone with a non-compliant vehicle, which will cover the whole of Greater London from 29 August.
In Enfield more than three-quarters of vehicles at registered addresses are already ULEZ compliant. It is thought though that every year 164 premature deaths happen in Enfield thanks to toxic air.
For further information on ULEZ and grant payment eligibility, visit the Transport for London website
This story was first released on Wednesday 31 May 2023.