Parking Permits & CO2 Levels... But It's a Pre-2001 Car!

[Andrew353w]

Just a quick mention for a battle I'm currently fighting with my local council which might be of interest to other Autoshiters running pre 2001 cars who park in a controlled parking zone (CPZ) as I do.

 

My local council now base the charge for resident parking on the CO2 emission level as per the D.V.L.A. website-no problem with that-the more pollution you produce the more you ought to pay! However, what happens if there ISN'T a CO2 figure for one's car? No information is available for pre 2001 cars (maybe where I live is SO posh no-one owns a 2001 car-thought not!)

 

Cue battle with my council, who cannot grasp the difference between CO2 (carbon DI oxide) "greenhouse gas" and CO (carbon MON oxide) the nasty stuff that kills you VERY quickly. When I gently pointed out to the council that no CO2 figure was available for my 1994 car, confirmed by Citroën's technical section in Slough, I was told that the information from the car's M.O.T. emissions test could be used (?)  

 

The battle is about to be escalated to the level of the Local Government Ombudsman, so wish me luck! My local council don't have a good record regarding winning these battles though; a certain Mr. Moses caused thousands of parking tickets to be cancelled after he took my council to court AND WON! Who knows, mine could be another...

[scaryoldcortina]

Well, if they try to apply the %CO reading from a MoT test to the table for VED calculations (CO₂ g/km) your car will automatically fall into band "A" for up to 100 therefore making it ultra green and worthy, even if your exhaust was 100% CO and almost 30 times the limit.

 

[MarvinsMom]

good luck to you and you screwing over the toss potts down at city hall!

 

my name is bullet, jake bullet, cybernautic detective. i like that! that sounds like the kind of hard living flat foot who gets the job done by cutting corners and bucking authority. and if those pen-pushers up at city hall don't like it, well they can park their over paid, fat asses on this mid-digit and swivel - swivel til thet squeal like pigs on honeymoon.

 

 

bastards.....

[Pillock]

This is what happens when tinpot little councils are allowed to make their own rules - you get someone who doesn't understand the rules they're enforcing (CO vs CO2 being a great example) yet whoever dreamt it up has probably been given a pat on the back, a bonus and a days holiday.

[scaryoldcortina]

"That's Traffic Control."

[robinmasters]

my name is bullet, jake bullet, cybernautic detective. i like that! that sounds like the kind of hard living flat foor who gets the job done

[MarvinsMom]

oops....

[Pillock]

The sad thing is, a GCSE level child could tell the difference. Not to the same level of authority that richardmorris could deliver, but they know there's a difference.

[richardmorris]

The sad thing is, a GCSE level child could tell the difference. Not to the same level of authority that richardmorris could deliver, but they know there's a difference.

Deleted in case of over-qualification!

But you're correct.

[sheffcortinacentre]

there heads would explode with my 54 plt lpg falcon then as its classed as pre CO2 tax class & mot emission is zero as it has no petrol system what so ever.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

LOL I can't wait to hear the outcome of this. Keep us posted!!!

[garethj]

Did cars even exist pre-2001?  You'll probably end up getting it classified as a horse and cart and pay the methane tax based on farting.

 

Or perhaps get it registered as an item of historical significance and get a government grant for taking it places to demonstrate it?

[Parky]

Only problem here is all correspondence will be answered by Dierdre in the customer services team who won't have a fucking clue what you are on about. Expect many standard letters along the lines of "it is what it is because that's how it is. Now go away"

 

If it has to come to the co2 emissions from the mot, ask the council if they are insisting VW owners do the same, or are the council happy to accept the incorrect data from Volkswagen? If so why won't they accept official data from Citroen as well?

[Richard]

I would have thought the correct way to deal with pre-2001 cars would be to put cars up to 1549cc in Band F and cars over 1549cc in Band I, because that's the rates of VED they pay.

[Andrew353w]

I would have thought the correct way to deal with pre-2001 cars would be to put cars up to 1549cc in Band F and cars over 1549cc in Band I, because that's the rates of VED they pay.

 

You're quite right! This is the way Richmond, Kingston On Thames and Barking & Dagenham Councils (to name but a few) have dealt with this-I've checked their websites to confirm. Are my council SO ignorant that they can't see this?

[TataBobu]

Give them the MOT reading. They might be able to ignore the % sign, take the CO figure and double it (the table they have is for CO2 after all, so naturally you have to double the value for CO) and you'll be home free paying on par with Priuses and other small engine hybrids with start and stop.

[Louise2cv]

Charging parked cars for their emissions.....? <narrows eyes>

[Junkman]

Since when does a parked car emit CO2?

Following the Climate Change religion (it must be a religion, since there is no logic behind it),

parking charges should be lower for cars emitting a lot of CO2.

In fact, I should be paid for parking my cars.

 

So this is how they finally will make owning a classic car illegal - make it impossible to park it.

[martc]

They might be able to ignore the % sign, take the CO figure and double it (the table they have is for CO2 after all, so naturally you have to double the value for CO) and you'll be home free paying on par with Priuses and other small engine hybrids with start and stop.

 

Chemistry pedant mode on - no 1 CO₂ does not = 2 x CO, 1 CO₂ = 1.57 x CO it's to do with moles and suchlike.

 

To be more precise 1 mole of CO gives 1 mole of CO₂, but the CO₂ weighs 1.57 x CO. Now explain this to your local petty official- chemistry pedant mode off.

[Junkman]

Apart from that, CO and CO₂ have entirely different impacts.
Whereas CO₂ is vitally important for life on Earth, CO is highly toxic.

[Richard]

I would just give them the MOT figure and see how they get along trying to convert a percentage into g/km.

[TataBobu]

I guess I should have used the [sarcasm] and [/sarcasm] tags. I was having a go at regulators who don't know the field they're regulating.

[CHRIS1980]

Parked cars whether they are envirmentally friendly or not don't produce emisions unless of course you leave the engine running. It just sounds like a local council scam to plug a hole in their funding. I have had to deal with my council a lot lately and have come to the conclusion that they have not had an education. So science will not register to them. That's if they are at work as well. Every time I have phoned,they are on a course,in a meeting,holiday,out to lunch,committed suicide.hiding in the cupboard,photocopying their Arse. Anything but their job.

[Matt]

Tell them there's no emissions data because it produces no emissions.

 

Claim electric conversion, don't open bonnet for them.

[colnerov]

I would just give them the MOT figure and see how they get along trying to convert a percentage into g/km.

 

 The trouble with that is they'll just round everything up.

[dave21478]

Good luck!

 

 

 

However.....

 

 

My local council now base the charge for resident parking on the CO2 emission level as per the D.V.L.A. website-no problem with that-the more pollution you produce the more you ought to pay! 

I have a pretty fucking serious problem with that. 

I know its not affecting me, not my battle etc and that probably for the best as if I were confronted by this bullshit I would probably have popped a gasket and shot up the council offices by now.

 

What the ever-loving fuck do emissions have to do with parking permits? Doesnt matter if its a Leaf

or a V8 Rangie on worn out carbs....if its parked, its parked. If they really want to introduce some kind of tiered payment scheme, surely it should be based on vehicle length? you know....something thats actualy relevant to the parking situation in the borough?

 

Pillock mentioned above that whoever at the council thought this up would have got a pat on the back, a bonus and a days holiday. I think a more likely scenario is that tens of thousands of pounds were pissed away on "research" meetings, new decor for the board room to have those meetings in, implementation strategies, some IT consultants will have billed them 5 times my years salary for a feasability study on how to set up the scheme and some cunt will have earned a bonus large enough to pay for his third home in the countryside. Where coincidentaly he doesnt have to deal with a fuckwitted parking charge scheme.

[beko1987]

Someone drove a car full of gas bottles into our council headquarters in Jan over a planning row. Seems a sensible solution to your issue... That £50 rover on these very boards would be perfect for the job...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-32549305

[MarvinsMom]

if the council; are going to be bell ends over this, what on earth would they make of, say, a 1972 Cadillac eldorado?

 

tax free, and the better part of 25 feet long, oh yes and it would burn pez like it was going out of fashion.

 

wankers....

[CHRIS1980]

if the council; are going to be bell ends over this, what on earth would they make of, say, a 1972 Cadillac eldorado?

 

tax free, and the better part of 25 feet long, oh yes and it would burn pez like it was going out of fashion.

 

wankers....

Sounds like a plan....get on it right away!

[doobietoo]

This is the irritation..... I bet a leaf is in the lowest category even though it emits (indirectly)  way more emissions wise than a petrol engine car when parked as it will be on charge...