Drivers bringing their cars into Birmingham and the Black Country could face a £12.50-a-day pollution charge under proposals to encourage us all to buy “greener” vehicles.
Liberal Democrats are set to debate and vote on plans to extend a scheme currently planned for London to the rest of the country, and particularly to major urban areas such as the West Midlands.
Under plans for an "ultra low emission zone", drivers of diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2005 will have to pay a fee for bringing their vehicle into into central London.
Cars, small vans and motorcycles will be charged £12.50, once the scheme comes into effect in 2020. In most cases, this will be on top of the existing £11.50-a-day Congestion Charge already operating in London.
But a motion which Liberal Democrats are expected to approve at their conference in Brighton calls for the Government to give councils across the country the ability to introduce similar schemes - and said this would help end a "crisis" on congestion as well as protecting the environment.
It warns: “Current levels of road congestion are at crisis point and local authorities need greater powers to deal with traffic offences and to create Ultra Low Emission Zones.”
The Department for the Environment has warned that air pollution in Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull will exceed official limits set by the European Union until after 2030.
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EU regulations stated that air pollution should be under control by 2015.
And figures from Public Health England show that air pollution is estimated to cause 1,460 excess deaths a year in Birmingham and the surrounding area.
Birmingham Liberal Democrat politician John Hemming said he did not support road pricing.
He said: “You can give councils the power to make decisions but you then have local council elections where different ideas are debated and local people decide who they want in power.”
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The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee also said councils should have more powers to bring in road pricing, in a report earlier this year.
Other proposals in the Liberal Democrat motion, to be debated Tuesday, include measures to encourage more people to buy ultra-low pollution vehicles, such as providing more charging points for electric cars.
The party is proposing more investment in cycling and walking facilities and measures to make rail operators listen to passengers - including bigger penalties if they fail to provide a good service.
