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Stop expanding the ULEZ to all the London boroughs in 2023

Will said:
Yes, that’s my point.

Do away with the standing charge (VED) and increase the tax on fuel.
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Well I put approx £100 of diesel a week in my car, approx 70l. That's £36 of duty and £20 vat per week or nearly £3000 a year.
 
horatio said:
A cinema, restaurant, caffe, baker or whatever does offers a real life experience that isn’t available behind a screen. If they close because the council plops a Homebase planter (LTN) in the road and their customers order Uber eats & watch Netflix instead that’s not a free market in action.

* Cinema not the best example of a service not behind a screen but you catch my drift!
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The LTNs I've witnessed so far while driving around London were only applied to residential side streets that were previously used for through-traffic by cars bypassing the main roads during rush hour, and next to schools but only during school times. I have not seen an LTN that encompasses - or leads to - a shopping parade or other commercial areas (this is not to say that they do not exist, but if it was a common occurrence then I suspect I would have seen one or two by now).

But on a more general note, a business that is located in a busy city centre and whose existence relies on customers driving to it in their private cars is indeed doomed to fail in this day and age.
 
To be fair, most small shops in London are being pushed out of business by business rates which is why it’s all coffee shops and charity outlets on the local high Street…
 
MikeInWimbledon said:
To be fair, most small shops in London are being pushed out of business by business rates which is why it’s all coffee shops and charity outlets on the local high Street…
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Same here in Guildford. The thing that amazes me is the coffee shops always seem to be busy, even though there now so many (In Guildford). More surprising is the coffee i have experienced in those ive tried has been awful. I admit im a bit of a coffee bore but even the so called artisan ones have been woeful at best. They must be doing something right though.
 
Well, my father got a letter 5 days explaining that this IS happening and that is car is not exempt. First page is attached

He's 83 and not really able to sell his car (black E350 2010 with only 47k miles, full MBSH) without someone else doing it for him. I'm not able to get back and sort this out at the moment. It's also going to be worth half what it was worth a year or two ago. To think that this isn't a huge financial loss for many people is ridiculous.

To also think that this isn't going to go ahead seems extremely naive at this point.
 

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ChrisHGTV said:
Same here in Guildford. The thing that amazes me is the coffee shops always seem to be busy, even though there now so many (In Guildford). More surprising is the coffee i have experienced in those ive tried has been awful. I admit im a bit of a coffee bore but even the so called artisan ones have been woeful at best. They must be doing something right though.
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As the French would say, when you say “Bonjour!” (loudly), and order a pastis or a coffee, you’re just renting the table for the hour or so. It’s not about the excellent espresso, it’s a social place to sit.

Agreed about the English brown, milky water. Why are they still so bad, and getting worse?
 
TeddyRuxpin said:
Well, my father got a letter 5 days explaining that this IS happening and that is car is not exempt. First page is attached

He's 83 and not really able to sell his car (black E350 2010 with only 47k miles, full MBSH) without someone else doing it for him. I'm not able to get back and sort this out at the moment. It's also going to be worth half what it was worth a year or two ago. To think that this isn't a huge financial loss for many people is ridiculous.

To also think that this isn't going to go ahead seems extremely naive at this point.
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Given that he’s probably doing only 40 miles a week these days, how often does he drive?

If it’s a couple of times a week, it would make sense to bite the bullet and just pay the grand a year for the ULEZ. Swopping cars would be a far greater waste of money.

Mayor Khan will appreciate your father’s grand towards running very empty buses off-peak around London at times when no-one wants to climb aboard
 
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At this point I think we'd be encouraging simply selling it and retiring from driving vs buying another E-class or similar. I have a small mk4 golf that I've been doing up that is ULEZ compliant that he could use as a run around for going to the supermarket, doctor's visits, though it's not the easiest to drive and I'm worried about safety vs the W212. He uses it to take my mother to doctors appts and physiotherapy and the like. Often short journeys, then when I go back home I take it for a longer trip to stretch its legs/DPF.

When he bought the E-class he wanted it because he wanted 'one nice car' before he passes away. Petrol W212s were barely an option in 2010. Didn't really think the end of his driving career would end like this... it's going to be very traumatic to try to convince him to give up a car and his independence.

He's very stubborn though and likely won't want to be without a car, but finances are an issue. Looking at auto trader, it's lost a lot in value and of course will keep plummeting as August approaches.

Anyway, that's just one person's very specific story (which I'm going to have to deal with... what a headache).
 
TeddyRuxpin said:
He's 83 and not really able to sell his car (black E350 2010 with only 47k miles, full MBSH) without someone else doing it for him. I'm not able to get back and sort this out at the moment. It's also going to be worth half what it was worth a year or two ago. To think that this isn't a huge financial loss for many people is ridiculous.
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There’s a few people here who will be questioning your post.
 
TeddyRuxpin said:
At this point I think we'd be encouraging simply selling it and retiring from driving vs buying another E-class or similar. I have a small mk4 golf that I've been doing up that is ULEZ compliant that he could use as a run around for going to the supermarket, doctor's visits, though it's not the easiest to drive and I'm worried about safety vs the W212. He uses it to take my mother to doctors appts and physiotherapy and the like. Often short journeys, then when I go back home I take it for a longer trip to stretch its legs/DPF.

When he bought the E-class he wanted it because he wanted 'one nice car' before he passes away. Petrol W212s were barely an option in 2010. Didn't really think the end of his driving career would end like this... it's going to be very traumatic to try to convince him to give up a car and his independence.

He's very stubborn though and likely won't want to be without a car, but finances are an issue. Looking at auto trader, it's lost a lot in value and of course will keep plummeting as August approaches.

Anyway, that's just one person's very specific story (which I'm going to have to deal with... what a headache).
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I'm guessing he lives inside the new ULEZ zone? If so, then yes, I agree, it's tough - £12.50 every time he moves his car, especially for a pensioner.
 
TeddyRuxpin said:
At this point I think we'd be encouraging simply selling it and retiring from driving vs buying another E-class or similar. I have a small mk4 golf that I've been doing up that is ULEZ compliant that he could use as a run around for going to the supermarket, doctor's visits, though it's not the easiest to drive and I'm worried about safety vs the W212. He uses it to take my mother to doctors appts and physiotherapy and the like. Often short journeys, then when I go back home I take it for a longer trip to stretch its legs/DPF.
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You're right to encourage that.

Dad was really reluctant to give up his car at 77 and on my wife's side "Grandma" only gave up reluctantly after a dozen or more dents and bashes to her little 206. (She soldiered on for another decade)

I do know people who've kept driving into their late eighties but they have a very powerful St Christopher hanging from the mirror.

My comment about the grand a year was purely in comparison to the cost of swopping to another vehicle. Of course a switch to a petrol Honda Jazz or A Class would make far more sense.

No need to get despondent about it, there's more to life than driving to the doctor's appointments. I'm told.
 
I lost my 2 original Mercs to Mr Khan's policy madness when the ULEZ encompassed the North and South Circular. And my Mum who is 89 has only just agreed to take her car off the road as she hasn't driven since before lockdown and MOT, servicing,and insuring the little mini wasn't justified. She is stubbornly independent too, but she wouldn't survive on today's roads and being of the pre smart phone era, would not be able to pay for parking. If she needs to go somewhere, I take her. It's difficult, and I waited for my Mum to make her own mind up.
 
Darrell said:
One of my homies works for Cadent and has recently picked up a leccy Transit. They’re around £60,000.
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Maybe the council's minibuses have modifications to carry wheelchairs, disabled access, these sort of things?
 
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