Should you pay more for parking if you have a big car?

It’s a arguable taxable that divides opinion: should radical with bigger cars wage much for parking?

Cardiff has go the latest assembly to ponder the question. As portion of a nationalist consultation, it’s asking for views connected whether residents with larger vehicles should wage much for permits.

“We’re consulting connected the rule of whether it’s right... if you're driving a larger oregon much polluting vehicle, to wage a spot more,” assembly person Huw Thomas told the BBC this week.

“These are vehicles that instrumentality up much space, they origin much harm to our roads, and if they hap to deed a pedestrian they’re apt to origin much superior injuries,” helium said.

Other councils, including Bristol, Oxford and Haringey successful northbound London are besides looking into the enactment of charging larger vehicles more.

So, backmost to Mr Thomas’s question: is it right?

We headed to Haringey to spot what section residents thought.

"I deliberation it's a load of crap,” Nev says, adding helium has grown weary of traffic-reducing and biology policies successful the borough.

"We're already paying much if you’ve got a large car. You're paying much tax, you wage much for petrol to capable it. That's your business."

But chap nonmigratory Gary Oliva says: "If you tin spend a ample car, past you tin spend to wage for it.

"Public transport successful London is very, precise good. If you privation to get from A to B get connected a bus, get connected a train, get connected the tube."

However, Selin Akdenez, who is simply a azygous mum and drives an SUV, says parking successful London is already expensive, and the imaginable of paying much for residential parking is thing that she couldn’t afford.

“I disagree due to the fact that I person a kid truthful I bash person to person a bigger car,” she says. “My parent is truly old. If she needs a GP assignment oregon dentist, I person to instrumentality her."

A YouGov poll past twelvemonth recovered 39% of adults thought determination should beryllium higher parking fees for bigger and heavier cars, portion 53% thought each cars should person the aforesaid parking fees.

The divided was overmuch person successful London than successful immoderate different region, with 45% reasoning bigger cars should wage higher fees, and 44% reasoning they shouldn’t.

But what bash we really mean by bigger?

In Haringey, wherever the terms of a licence already varies depending connected your car’s emissions, the assembly projected adding a 5% surcharge for mean vehicles 4-4.49m long, and a 10% surcharge for ample vehicles implicit 4.5m long.

To enactment that successful context, a Kia Picanto would number arsenic a tiny car, a Volvo V40 oregon BMW 1 Series medium, and an MG5 oregon Land Rover Discovery large.

Haringey's nationalist consultation has conscionable closed. The assembly says nary decisions person been taken connected immoderate of the proposals.

In Belgium, Brussels has a length-based strategy successful spot successful definite parts of the city. A residential licence costs €25 (£21) per twelvemonth but if your conveyance is implicit 4.9m agelong you wage an further complaint of €120 per year.

In Cardiff, value is the origin nether consideration, whether vehicles implicit 2.4 tonnes gross value should wage more, though nary terms has been suggested. Revenue value refers to the maximum value of a vehicle, including passengers, substance and luggage.

In Autocar’s database of the champion household SUVs, 4 retired of the apical 5 would transcend this bounds - the Kia EV9, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Hyundai Santa Fe, and Volvo XC60.

Car value is the exemplary utilized successful immoderate French cities. Earlier this year, Parisians voted to triple parking rates for cars weighing 1.6 tonnes oregon much to €18 an hr successful the interior city, though this does not use to residents.

Oliver Lord is from the Clean Cities run group, which worked connected the run successful Paris arguing that SUVs are unsafe and atrocious for the environment.

He says it is “inevitable” that size-based parking charges volition travel to the UK, pointing to the information that 60% of car income successful the UK past twelvemonth were SUVs.

“These bigger cars not lone pain much fuel, they instrumentality up much space," helium says.

Even large electrical cars person issues due to the fact that they instrumentality up much country and are much unsafe than smaller electrical cars, helium adds.

“If you’ve not lone got much cars but the cars are bigger, however are you going to accommodate your metropolis to clime change?”

But Erin Baker, editorial manager astatine AutoTrader, is against broad policies based connected size due to the fact that she says cars tin alteration greatly. For instance, immoderate models whitethorn beryllium agelong oregon dense but inactive beryllium fuel-efficient.

“Yes it tends to beryllium the bigger the car the heavier it is and truthful it’s little fuel-efficient. But it’s a clumsy mode of looking astatine it,” she says.

She besides says it's not ever the lawsuit that larger cars person wealthier owners.

“If you look astatine cardinal workers oregon radical who unrecorded extracurricular the metropolis - these are not two-car families, these are 1 car [households] due to the fact that that’s what the household fund allows for. So it volition beryllium large - an property oregon an SUV.”

Luke Bosdet from motoring organisation the AA says it is tenable to complaint much for vehicles that transcend the magnitude of a modular parking space.

“I would deliberation that conveyance magnitude is simply a measurement that residents would recognize amended and spell on with, peculiarly with the compression connected parking successful residential streets.”

However, helium says: “Other reasons for accrued licence costs, specified arsenic substance benignant oregon level of CO2 emissions are not. Other taxes, specified arsenic conveyance excise duty, institution car tax, ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) and CAZ (Clean Air Zone) charges bash that.”

Any other charges imposed connected drivers would beryllium seen arsenic unfair, says Erin Baker.

“Consumers think: don’t penalise me, and don’t penalise maine erstwhile the car manufacture is gathering bigger cars.”

Back successful Haringey, nonmigratory Amanda Davies says the connection to complaint larger cars much to parkland “just adds to the substance of the assembly being seen arsenic making wealth retired of car users”.

She has a Mini currently, but says if she did privation to get a bigger car, she wouldn’t privation to beryllium penalised for that by having to wage much for parking.

"It's a truly pugnacious 1 due to the fact that yes we should discourage radical to person cars successful interior cities afloat stop, due to the fact that they are immense polluters.

“However, immoderate radical are babelike connected a car for work, for disablement oregon for immoderate crushed - truthful I deliberation it's conscionable astir uncovering a balance.

"It's an absorbing taxable due to the fact that we don't usage our car that often, and present I'm considering that we should get escaped of it."