Caravanning organisations have expressed concern over Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s decision to extend London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to cover all the Greater London Area from August, although they accept the need to lower emissions in the capital.
Under ULEZ, anyone with a tow car whose engine is not at least Euro 6, if it’s a diesel engine, or Euro 4, if it’s a petrol engine, will have to pay £12.50 a day to drive the vehicle in the area, although not if it’s only parked there.
The M25 is exempt, as are parts of the M4 and M11 into London.
The Caravan and Motorhome Club says it will be “monitoring the situation” at the two sites it still runs that are within the new ULEZ zone, which is set to become operational from 29 August 2023.
Both London caravan parks – at Abbey Wood and Crystal Palace – fall within the existing Low Emission Zone (LEZ). But the club says this separately run scheme is largely targeted at commercial vehicles. The ULEZ expansion, it says, will more directly affect leisure drivers.
The Camping and Caravanning Club does not have any sites within the extended zone, and it said it did not expect those near the boundary, such as the one at Chertsey in Surrey, to be affected.
The National Caravan Council said schemes like ULEZ are “necessary and inevitable in today’s world”. It was concerned about the likely impact on motorhome owners.
Sadiq Khan’s decision to go ahead with the extension despite polls showing that as many as 80% of businesses in the affected area were against the idea was condemned by some. Three Conservative-run London boroughs – Bexley, Hillingdon and Harrow – have said they will “resist its implementation by all means at their disposal”.
Image: Stefan Redel – Fotolia
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