A home counties rebellion against Sadiq Khan’s expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone has intensified just weeks before it is due to be rolled out to the London boundary.
Only one of the seven councils bordering the capital has granted permission for City Hall to erect Ulez signs warning motorists they are entering the clean air zone.
Drivers of the most polluting vehicles will have to pay a daily £12.50 charge anywhere in Greater London from August 29.
On Thursday, Buckinghamshire town hall told the Standard it will “not enter into an agreement to install Ulez road signage inside the Buckinghamshire border until adequate mitigation” for residents and businesses that face being affected is in place.
Surrey County Council yesterday said it had informed Transport for London that warning cameras and signs would not be allowed on its roads.
It joined the Tory-led Sussex, Kent, Hertfordshire, Essex and Thurrock councils in refusing permission for the road signs. Just Slough, the smallest local authority bordering London, has signed the agreement with TfL.
A spokesman for Surrey County Council, which alongside four outer London boroughs last month failed in a High Court challenge to have the Ulez expansion declared unlawful, said: “We have informed TfL that we will not enter into a Section 8 agreement which is needed for them to place signage and cameras on our highways, while there isn’t any mitigation in place to minimise the impact on Surrey residents.”
Buckinghamshire Council leader Martin Tett added: “The council continues to strongly oppose the expansion of the Ulez. We still call on the Mayor of London to halt the proposal to expand the zone to all of Greater London until we can agree mitigations for the thousands of residents and businesses who will be seriously impacted.
“We must see mitigations for people from Buckinghamshire who have no option but to travel into London for work or to receive NHS healthcare.
“We also remain very concerned about the impact on our local roads and local air quality if motorists seek to avoid the Ulez charge by driving round the edge of the zone.”
London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport Seb Dance criticised the town halls’ decision and said they were letting down residents.
He argued that the councils would be to blame if motorists were fined because they were not warned about the Ulez before driving into it.
“The High Court dismissed the case against Ulez on all grounds, agreeing the decision to expand was fully lawful,” he said. “TfL have been trying to work collaboratively with councils to install cameras and signage, including outside London, but some are still refusing to work with TfL.
“If residents with non-compliant vehicles drive in the expanded Ulez zone by mistake after August 29 these councils will have to accept their share of responsibility.”
City Hall has almost 1,000 cameras that use Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology still to set up in outer London before the end of the month.
