The HRA and Labour have made a mess of this borough’s ULEZ opposition.
Deputy Chairman of Romford Young Conservatives Ben Suter today writes in the Havering Daily.
Two weeks ago I wrote in the Havering Daily highlighting the weaknesses of the Labour Amendment which was supported by the Havering Residents Association. The weaknesses which I feared could make the council’s position has been shown in their official ‘representation on ULEZ’.
Their ‘representation’ says “The Mayor should consider delaying the implementation”. This is not what the Labour-H.R.A. administration made out their opposition would be. Our Conservative motion said that the council would “oppose ULEZ by all means within our power”. The H.R.A. has risked the livelihoods of their residents by putting their coalition with Labour first.
Residents overwhelmingly oppose ULEZ. This is because they know the damage this will cause not to just them but their neighbours, their local community, and their borough. Residents do not want a delay to ULEZ. They want total opposition to ULEZ. Their hopes have been denied by this administration that has only asked him to delay the implementation.
Havering Council should have taken a similar position to Harrow Council, who have come out against ULEZ completely being expanded into their borough. This will damage the lives of thousands in Havering and I do hope, for the sake of livelihoods in this borough, the council changes their position to one like our friends in Harrow and oppose this tax completely.
Well I firmly support ULEZ. It’s a long overdue public health issue that needs to be addressed. Polluting vehicles cause death (about 3 per week in Havering) and hundreds of children rely on *puffers* reducing their ability to enjoy their childhood. The transition to clean vehicles will take a very long time and this is a minor step in the right direction. You say that, “This will damage the lives of thousands of in Havering…” But it won’t kill them.
So how many deaths are you prepared to accept as a reasonable price so that people can drive round in polluting vehicles?
I accept that pollution has to be addressed. The problem is that not everyone has the ability to charge electric vehicles for daily use. I live in a 31 apartment complex where this is the case, and have a hybrid car which is the closest I can practically comply with ULEZ. I always use public transport where possible and most days, don’t even use my car. How can everyone afford to pay £62.50 a week when a lot of the time their vehicles remain parked, as is my case?
I accept all of this as being entirely true. Unfortunately any London-wide policy is automatically arbitrary, where people will be disadvantaged initially. As I understand it you pay the £12.50 when the car is in use and so when parked they remain uncharged. The £62,50 is for 5 days.
The position is this “We can NOT have ULEZ until we have had much bigger investment in infrastructure. There are many places in Havering which can not accessed without car. This is not the same in central london which enjoys great infrastructure. Those that oppose ULEZ are not bad guys who kill 3 kids every day type people, they are ordinary people trying to feed their family and put a roof over their heads”.