Dartford Conservatives have submitted a response to TfL and the Mayor of London on the ULEZ Expansion consultation stating our opposition to the proposal.
Residents have made it clear, Sadiq Khan’s proposal is not welcome and we call on the Labour Mayor to scrap any plans to expand ULEZ and other cross border charges.
Cllr Tom Oliver, Chairman of the Dartford Conservatives wrote in his letter:
I am writing to you in my capacity as Chairman of the Dartford Conservative Association in
response to the TfL proposal to expand the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in August 2023.
As a Borough that borders the London borough of Bexley, our Association along with many
local residents, businesses and organisations are deeply concerned about the impact this
proposal will have on the lives of everyone living in our community.
The proposal will penalise families on the very lowest incomes, who rely on their motor
vehicles to access employment, visit friends and family and go about their daily lives.
We are also disappointed that the proposal offers no car scrappage scheme for residents
outside of London, with reports that a ULEZ-compliant vehicle will cost in excess of £2,500 to
purchase. Further to this, the charge of £12.50 placed on Dartford residents will be used to
fund Transport for London, with our residents seeing no benefits at all from this proposed
charge.
These charges are being imposed on Dartford residents by a London Mayor that no Dartford
resident elected or can remove. The residents of our Borough are clear. They do not welcome
such a charge, as demonstrated by the petition set up by our Association to oppose the
Mayor's initial proposal to charge all motorists £3.50 a day. The petition attracted signatures
from 27,000 local residents and many of them told us about the detrimental impact the
border charge would have on their lives and finances.
We are aware of the responses that have been submitted by other local political parties such
as Dartford Labour who have only requested a delay to the implementation of the proposal.
However, this request simply does not go far enough for the residents of Dartford and we are
firmly of the view that the proposal should be scrapped immediately and in its entirety.
We hope that you will reconsider your proposal on this matter and drop any future plans for
a London-wide border charge.