Today, Hornchurch and Upminster’s MP, Julia Lopez, has written to the Mayor of London to highlight her own dismay and that of Julia’s constituents about the mayor’s plans to extend the Ultra-Low emission Zone London-wide next August.
Mrs Lopez is very concerned that the Mayor intends to extend the ULEZ despite a clear majority of Londoners opposing it and has also signed a letter with 28 Conservative colleagues, published in the Daily Telegraph on 2 December, calling on the Mayor to cancel the ULEZ expansion.
By extending the ULEZ, the Mayor is treating outer-London the same as inner-London, despite his London Plan acknowledging that public transport infrastructure is significantly different to that provided in inner-London. Mrs Lopez believes that the impact of ULEZ expansion on the elderly residents of the borough will be particularly devastating, and many will be forced to make difficult decisions regarding their employment, their engagement in the local economy alongside their interactions with friends and family. The wider socio-economic impact of these changes will be substantial. Mrs Lopez has been inundated by local residents worried about the affordability of the Mayor’s tax of £12.50 a day and does not believe the scrappage scheme is anywhere near sufficient to make vehicle replacement a viable option for many residents.
The daily tax will also have a secondary impact on those who live just outside the borough and the vibrancy of its high streets. Schools and businesses within Hornchurch and Upminster are visited regularly by people travelling into the community from outside of London. Many of those visitors will now be faced by a daily tax yet they will not be able to access any assistance offered by the scrappage scheme. A significant reduction of external visitors to outer London boroughs, coupled with the inevitable reduction in the mobility of outer London residents, will lead to a significant impact on the vibrancy of local communities, economies and to individuals’ lives.
To view Mrs Lopez’s letter in full and to read why she is opposing Mayor Khan’s proposals, please click on the below attachment.
