1.) The small encouragement to purchase diesel was introduced in 2001, prior to Sadiq Khan becoming an MP. The information about diesel being problematic for health emerged strongly in 2012 (it was declared carcinogenic by the World Health Organisation), so before you purchased your current vehicle. Unfortunately, the then Mayor of London did not publicise this sufficiently, so I’m sorry you purchased your vehicle based on encouragement from so long ago, rather than in the light of more recent information - but that is not Sadiq Khan’s fault.

She has got a point! If you bought a diesel car in recent years... or you live under a rock... or you don't really care about the environmental impact that diesel has on our health.

It has been very well publicised that diesel is awful for people's health in recent years. Anyone that bought a car in the last couple of years must have known. Here is an article from the BBC news website from 2012 for example.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18415532

Ultimately we have to balance the risk to Londoners health with people's right to drive their cars around. Personally I think it is a good compromise especially with the amount of notice that has been given. Those that drive diesel cars have to accept that by getting in their car and turning on their engines they are having a huge adverse effect on the health of others.
Diesel drivers cannot claim to be unaware of that now.

There are a large number of Wandsworth nurseries included in the recent stats that suggest the children are breathing in air with an illegal amount of pollution. Surely it is more important that this is tackled than we just ignore the problem and let car drivers carry on regardless?

Here is a response to an email sent to the Local London Assembly
Member - she obviously thinks we have lots of money to continually change our cars whenever the bureaucrats have a new way of thinking 😡

So out of touch. Please write to her with your views Leonie.Cooper@london.gov.uk

———

Thank you very much for your correspondence- when you say you have a car just 3 years old, then I have a couple of comments for you:

1.) The small encouragement to purchase diesel was introduced in 2001, prior to Sadiq Khan becoming an MP. The information about diesel being problematic for health emerged strongly in 2012 (it was declared carcinogenic by the World Health Organisation), so before you purchased your current vehicle. Unfortunately, the then Mayor of London did not publicise this sufficiently, so I’m sorry you purchased your vehicle based on encouragement from so long ago, rather than in the light of more recent information - but that is not Sadiq Khan’s fault.

2.) If your vehicle is just 3 years old, like many people you probably change it quite regularly. As the expanded ULEZ will not be arriving until over 3 years time, you may well have changed your vehicle again by then. Now the information is quite clear, purchasing another diesel if you live in London will cost you money if you wish to enter the ULEZ - so either don’t purchase a new vehicle at all and switch to other modes, or go electric or hybrid.

I am very well aware that there is strength of feeling on this matter - but this is on both sides. I am getting just as much correspondence from parents of children who are suffering from lung conditions, or those caring for breathless elderly relatives, who want the expanded ULEZ now, rather than waiting until late 2021. I don’t think we can ignore this public health emergency any longer, but giving people over 3 years to prepare for the change is necessary, so on balance, I think the Mayor is correct to take this step - which will require us all to change much of our behaviour.

Best regards,

Leonie Cooper AM
London Assembly Member, Merton & Wandsworth
Sent from my iPad

Quite frankly, to steal the old phrase, I'm appalled.

The car industry has been lying to us/governments for years about emissions.

The government pushed us towards diesel based on bad research.

Now we're carrying the can.

I've always had second hand cars based on trying to be a bit green but now I'm going to be forced to trade my lovely little 2015 diesel for something else.

It's cost Sadiq my vote...

I did take part in the "consultation". I was full of loaded questions such as " do you think there is too much pollution in London?" answer yes or no.. well as someone with a brain I answered no and continued along that vein throughout.
There was no consultation. this is about revenue raising not about pollution. If it was about pollution, half of all vehicles would be banned and the MOT would judge whether a car polluted or not, not a register of vehicle types with figures supplied by manufacturers!
If it was about pollution, most boats on the Thames would be banned.
If it was about pollution Well tuned and maintained diesel cars and taxis would be welcomed.
and as per usual, this is taxing the poor the most!

The London Assembly member for Merton and Wandsworth, Leonie Cooper, is also the deputy chair of the Environment Committee.

Why not email her with your concerns? leonie.cooper@london.gov.uk

And who was actually voting for this, were there fake votes !. Is there any accountability as it was a very close ‘vote’.

This is why it’s so important to put your views in for consultations - wouldn’t have taken many people to have stopped this madness

I am going to look into buying a cheap foreign registered car and use that to get around this

Out with Sadiq Khan at the next elections. He would not get my vote.

My problem is not with the daily charge, or the impact on older, non-compliant vehicles (and my car is affected), but the fact that the boundary is going through a densely populated residential area, with a massive increase in pollution.

It seems that the consultation responses shared this concern, but it was ignored.

It is not clear to me what, if anything, can be done about it. Can the decision be appealed?

What a naive comment, if you have spent £30-£80k on a car in 2015/16 and now being told this, you will be rightfully hacked off.

Sadiq Kahn will hopefully be voted out over this and we can get a mayor that will also properly tackle crime and theft, rather than concentrating on racial, religious and minority groups that he seems to be focusing on

Great news! Let's not have our kids breathing toxic air.

If your car doesn't comply - get a new one or better still get rid of it!

Well this is going to have a huge impact around Nappy Valley which I don't think most realise.

Whilst taking the dog for a walk after reading the announcement, of the first ten cars I passed - six of them would not comply withh the ULEZ regulations.

If that 60% figure is true of the area as a whole that's an awful lot of cars that will plummet in value, if not become virtually obsolete overnight and will only be an attractive second-hand proposition if sold well away from London.

However with Oxford,Birmingham,Brighton, Manchester (to name but a few) also planning to follow suit it really is time to take action

I agree anything that cuts pollution has to be welcomed but what worries me is that all the worst polluting vehicles will be channelled around the South Circular and using the neighbouring streets as rat runs. Given the high concentration of children in the area this can’t be a good thing. Far better to extend it to the M25 now surely?

The biggest impact of this will fall on those of us with a diesel.

As it stands diesels purchased before September 2016 are most at risk - so you could have a 3 year old (and very expensive) Audi, Merecedes,Volvo etc that you cannot use without paying a £12.50 a day charge.

For petrol cars things are much better with 2005/2006 being the emmision compliant manufactuered date (but some earlier cars were euro4 compliant so use the ULEZ checker below to see if your vehicle is eligible for the charge

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/vrm-checker-ulez

if you are about to buy a car in the near future - check the ULEZ checker first and don't end up with a white elephant.

Finally if you DO have a car that doesn't comply - sell it as soon as you can and get a petrol equivilent or a diesel made after 2016!

I'm sure eventually they will expand it further out to the M25

I think it is a great idea. The continuing growth of car use in the City is unsustainable.
Being a few roads outside the proposed boundry does concern me though as it may have the effect of increasing traffic in the surrounding residential roads.