Green cars park for free in Westminster (09/03/2007)

Free parking is being offered to thousands of motorists in central London who drive green cars, Westminster City Council announced today.

Westminster residents who own or switch to eco-friendly cars will be exempt from residents' parking charges in the City - a saving of up to £110 a year.

The exemption covers hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius, which run on electricity and petrol, as well as those powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and hydrogen fuel cells.

The new scheme - believed to be one of the first of its kind in the UK - is due to come into force at the end of April.

The Council hopes the move will help cut pollution levels in Westminster which are some of the highest in the UK because of the sheer volume of traffic travelling through the City every day.

Councillor Danny Chalkley, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Transport, said: "Our location in central London unfortunately means we have very poor air quality.

"However, we are not sitting back and refusing to do our bit. Instead, we are putting forward positive measures to encourage people to use greener forms of transport.

"Electric and eco-friendly cars are ideally suited to City driving and we hope to see more and more people using them to travel around Westminster.

"It's everybody's responsibility to do what they can to limit their impact on the environment. We believe these new measures will help reduce carbon emissions and make a real difference.”

The Council prides itself on leading the way in encouraging environmentally friendly travel.

Motorists who use electric cars such as the popular G-wiz, are already exempt from parking charges during controlled hours at meters and pay and display bays.

The City also boasts the only free on-street electric car charging points in the country at Covent Garden. They are in addition to the 48 free charging stations in 13 of the Council's Masterpark car parks.

Last month, Westminster's Go Green Board agreed a raft of initiatives to help tackle global warming.

The Chairman of the Go Green Board Councillor Alan Bradley said: "Extending free parking to our residents will give people a financial incentive to choose a car which is less harmful to the environment and help reduce pollution.

"This is just one of a series of measures we are pioneering to help people protect the environment."

Other environmental measures include conserving green spaces and wildlife, cutting water consumption by half in its parks, and expanding the use of solar powered parking meters.

The Council aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020.

For more information please contact Oliver Finegold at Westminster City Council Press office on 0207 641 2259.

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