Sadiq Khan vowed on Thursday to press ahead with the Ulez expansion – as Tory opponents said they were confident the High Court would quash his “disastrous” plans.
A High Court judge, Sir Ross Cranston, ruled on Wednesday that an application from five Conservative-led councils for a judicial review into the widening of the ultra-low emission zone should proceed to a full hearing in July.
City Hall immediately made clear that it would “continue with preparations without delay” to expand the £12.50-a-day Ulez to the Greater London boundary on August 29. It said the judge had not made a decision about the lawfulness of the scheme.
On Thursday Mr Khan said: “Following yesterday’s ruling, Ulez expansion remains on track. I’m pleased that the judge refused permission on the majority of grounds, and we’re confident that millions more people will be breathing cleaner air in outer London when the scheme is rolled out in August.
“The decision to expand Ulez was a difficult one, but it’s necessary to protect the health of Londoners and tackle the climate crisis.”
The one-day hearing, likely to be held in the first week of July, will consider whether the Mayor acted beyond his powers in the way he drew up the expansion plans, and whether motorists living in the “buffer zone” on the edge of London should be able to apply to his £110m vehicle scrappage scheme.
But, in a written notification, Sir Ross said the claim about the scrappage scheme was only “on the cusp of being arguable” – and rejected three other grounds, including the claim that the consultation “so unfair as to be unlawful”.
The case was brought by four outer London boroughs – Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon – and Surrey County Council.
Harrow leader Paul Osborn said the Ulez expansion was “deeply unfair” as it impacted on the poorest residents who were unable to afford to replace their car.
But he admitted Mr Khan was unlikely to back down. “The mayor has this war on motorists – he is determined to try to get everyone out of their car,” he told LBC radio. “The only way to stop this is to defeat him at the ballot box next May.”
Up to 200,000 vehicles a day currently seen in the outer London expansion area would have to pay the levy – though almost 700,000 cars that may be liable are registered to addresses in Greater London, according to the DVLA.
Hillingdon leader Ian Edwards said: “We were confident that the coalition had put together a robust case against expansion and this is backed up by the courts agreeing to have our challenge heard.
“We remain confident that the court will see that the Mayor failed to follow due process, that his proposed scrappage scheme is inadequate, the irreparable harm Ulez expansion would have on outer London and its neighbours, and that it will rightfully quash these disastrous plans.”
Bromley leader Colin Smith said: “There is still time for the Mayor to pull back and take a more considered approach which takes outer London’s differing needs and circumstances into account.”
But Hirra Khan Adeogun, head of car free cities at the environmental charity Possible, said: “We can’t wait any longer for clean air.
“It’s a real shame to see local authorities wasting time and money trying to prolong the negative impacts of air pollution and the climate crisis. Every single time we delay it has an increasing impact on our health.”
