Conservative Reena Ranger is calling on Three Rivers District Council to join opposition to London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s anti-pollution scheme reports Will Durrant, Local Democracy Reporter

A road sign featuring the symbol for London's anti-pollution scheme, ULEZ, in a green circle. — Ultra Low Emission Zone, Stonebridge Park. Credit: Will Durrant/LDRS

Conservatives in a borough which borders London want to see the ULEZ expansion plan ditched.

The capital’s Ultra Low Emission Zone currently covers the area between the A406 North Circular and A205 South Circular roads, with drivers of the most polluting vehicles facing a £12.50-per-day charge if they cross into it.

On August 29th this year, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is due to extend the zone to take in most of Greater London, reaching the Hertfordshire border in some places.

But the Mayor is facing a High Court challenge, with five councils trying to halt the plans.

Conservative councillor Reena Ranger – whose Moor Park and Eastbury ward is as close to Northwood High Street, London, as it is to any in Hertfordshire – is now calling on her district council to support anti-ULEZ expansion efforts.

The Three Rivers District Council member told the Local Democracy Reporting Service residents fear having to change their dentists, doctors or opticians if the expansion takes place.

“Moor Park and Eastbury predominantly look to Northwood,” Cllr Ranger said.

“All of our residents look towards London for their dentists, doctors and opticians which are all on Northwood High Street.

“What do the residents do when they can’t afford to buy a new car?

“Some elderly people are concerned and nervous about changing their car so late in life.

“What this will do is incentivise people to drive further away in a non-compliant car, further away from Northwood.”

Cllr Ranger has put forward a motion which Three Rivers councillors could debate at a meeting on Tuesday, July 11.

If time at the meeting allows, Cllr Ranger, supported by Cllr Ciarán Reed (Con, Chorleywood North and Sarratt), will urge the authority to “oppose measures to push up the cost of living in Three Rivers by imposing taxes and charges on residents who rely on motor vehicles without providing them with realistic alternatives and have no democratic option to oppose this”.

They will also call on the authority to write to Sadiq Khan, urging him to spend money on “fairer and more effective ways of improving London and Hertfordshire’s air quality”.

Their third ask is that the Herts authority supports the judicial review in the High Court.

The legal challenge was brought against the Mayor of London by councils in Hillingdon, which borders Three Rivers and is where Northwood High Street lies, and Harrow, another of Three Rivers’ border boroughs.

Bexley and Bromley in south-east London are the other two borough councils involved, along with Surrey County Council.

So far in the case, lawyers have questioned a key TfL claim that nine out of 10 cars in outer London are ULEZ-compliant.

They argued there were 1,156 cameras in the “middle ring” of ULEZ, which has been in place since October 2021.

This is against 106 cameras in the whole of outer London.

Craig Howell Williams KC, representing the challenger councils, said without a more complete picture, compliance rate claims are “unlikely to be reliable given the size of the area beign covered”.

He said the current approach would “bypass legal standards” which were “designed to ensure that any charging scheme was properly considered before coming into effect”, the BBC reports.

Ben Jaffey KC, for TfL, said the law allows TfL to make changes to the current ULEZ scheme, which was first introduced in central London – covering the area between Hyde Park in the west and Tower Bridge in the east – in 2019.

“All that’s happening is that new standards are being applied to different classes of vehicles,” he said.

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