• WHILE electric vehicles are obviously better for the environment than petrol or diesel, they still have an impact, especially through the tiny health-damaging particles released from their tyres.

Annual parking fees charged by the council for electric vehicles have thus far amounted to pennies per week even to park a big car like a Tesla.

For the last two years I have pressed Islington Council officers to find a way to charge a bit more to park bigger, more powerful electric vehicles to account both for the danger presented by larger, heavier, cars and for the health-harming pollution from tyre wear.

So I was delighted to see the parking proposals that went to the council executive last week updating the council’s parking charges. A win for green common sense and great to see fairer pricing for electric vehicles in our borough.

Electric vehicles will still pay less than petrol and diesel guzzling cars for parking, but the new prices take account of road space taken for storing cars and their contribution to congestion. Before this amendment it was cheaper for people to park an electric car than a bike.

This is obviously unjust and it’s great this is starting to be addressed. Nobody likes paying parking fees but it’s only fair that there are higher fees for bigger cars like Teslas than smaller electric vehicles when it comes to charging.

CLLR CAROLINE RUSSELL
Green Party, Highbury ward