Features

Michael
People seem unaware of the true facts about the emission zone.1 Vans: under 1.2 tonnes are not affected, nor are petrol vans2 ALL vans under 8 yrs +10 months old on 4/10/2010 are already compliant and some vehicles older than this are also OK. This includes ambulances.3.The cost saved in fuel from more efficient engines of compliant vehicles would pay the interest and capital on a loan to buy a 2nd hand vehicle that would comply for most van users, and from next year there are road tax incentives for cleaner vans.4. All London fire engines are already compliant and all but 9 London ambulances are compliant and these 9 will apply for exemption or will be adapted.5. camper vans are not affected unless they have more than 9 seats or are over 5 tonnes.6. Lorries under 6+1/2 years old are compliant already leaving approximately 10% of lorries that regularly enter London that will possibly need adapting (not all will as some engines older than this are also compliant).This charge will apply to foreign lorries as well. It will have a much larger affect on them proportionately as their vehicles are often older and not as well maintained and £200 is a larger percentage of their running costs. This will result in more business for British haulage firms in London. 7. The £200 charge is too encourage owners to adapt non compliant vehicles (most lorries that enter London more than 13 times in their lifetime would save money by being adapted). It is also to encourage manufacturers to produce cleaner vehicles through the pressure of their customers demanding vehicles that comply.Lets not forget this money goes back into transport for London, this pays for the massive expansion in public transport in London that is making the roads less congested than they otherwise would be for the lorries that have to use our roads, thus saving them time and expense and fuel and more pollution. I know it seems a high charge but it is a level playing field, even foreign trucks will be made to comply. Even London Mayor Boris Johnson Who originally called it "the most punitive, draconian fining regime in the whole of Europe". Now says he was in favour in principle and it was one of his key environmental policies.

danny
lets all march in to LondonAnd do something big ,fuel to high pricestax to muchpay not good all over tax tax tax vat vat vat pay pay pay

Zoe
Why would charging £200 "help" produce cleaner air? If a lorry needs to get into London, it's going too. It's just exploiting businesses and more worryingly the emergency services - ambulances and fir engines!!! - People can't afford to astronomical price of making their vehicles comply with these standards, all it's going to do is push smalls businesses out. While as usual the big companies reap all the benefits.

Gent
Well...this is BRITAIN.Every one moans and no one lifts a finger.I wanted to see if the same things would hapened in FRANCE OR GERMANY and people like OUR KEN & CO would get away with it...So people we all know that he is going to get away with IT like he always has done and instead of moaning turn up to vote and vote for someone else..HAPPY DREAMS.

richard mirams
an absolutly disgusting charge to take more off of the poor with old vans and trucks to line the goverments pockets.SHAME ON YOU

Alan
How much polution is created by building a new lorry and scrapping an old one? This is simply another form of tax. The government should be applying strict rules to car manufacturers and supporting other forms of fuel to ensure all future cars are more environmentally friendly and not encouraging people to polute more by scrapping perfectly good vehicles and building new ones that don't really reduce the emissions enough. This won't make any difference to the world it is not the right solution it is simply another tax to support what, because it's not supporting public transport or the NHS as they're both a disgrace.

Gamal
Complete waste of time to keep politicians (Ken) in a job.I had to leave London as it got too complicated to live in. This is why!

Perry
you don't drive a big lorry you don't ride a bus or own a van but this will cost you more than me how, i drive and own a lorryi come in to London, cost to me 200 pounds. i deliver your bread i put 2p more on a loaf for delivery. the shopkeeper puts 4p on and blame's big kenthis gos for all you buy in the zone as most comes in on lorries or vans but if. manufacturers make vans buses that comply bring the zone in slowly big businesses first like m&s tesco / that can afford to do it /3 years med size businesses vat reg etc / than small none vat nextso small businesses can buy lorries in 3 or 4 years time that comply. second hand prices make small buss stay in business this way no-one suffers, and the air is cleaner ,all are happy , yes the ice is melting but ken you known that 5 years ago or more

Philip Longfils
I think the emission zone is really unfair we already pay to much for our car

Rob
This is the best thing to have ever happened to the streets of London. Driving through London is now 'almost' pleasurable.

jed
ken livingston can do wht evr he likes....democracy for powers tht be...zero democracy for the people...

Darren
Ken Livingstone is Running London like his Own Personal Momey Box> This Cannot be Allowed to Continue. He,s gone Barmy

Rob Foster
I have just set up my own business after finishing my degree. The majority of my business will be in central London. Having invested all of my hard earned money (which has taken several years of hard work to earn), i am now devastated at the news that i will not be able to drive my van in London come 2010!!! There is no way in this world that i could afford to buy a brand new van which would meet the strict requirements of the LEZ. Where am i, as a young person setting out in business, supposed to get that sort of money from? Yet again, people with money will benefit, whilst people like me who are trying their hardest to succeed in life, get yet another slap in the face! I'm a young person with very limited funds available, who is trying to earn an honest wage and set up in business. When things like this keep holding people like me back, it simply isn't fair. New business in this country should be encouraged. The younger generation are the future. Give us a bit of a break Ken...... You're making it impossible for us.......

Paul
Its all the small family run businesses that will go out of business,leaving as usual the big guns to profit.delivery prices for essential daily foods will increase.Then the moaning mary's in london will have to grow thier own organic produce.Probably better in the long run for our children's children, but how about introducing this scheme when all the world driving community is involved.why should we pay now when other countries are not on-board.will only have an impact if all countries work together. We all know what the French lorry drivers would do to Paris it they had to pay such a charge, we should do the same here block all major roads into London.But no, we just roll over and die and take everything that we're given. The British Bull Dog with no balls.:-(

Thanks Ken
Thanks Ken, as a small business I cannot afford the £3800+ to equip my lorry to lez standards, so I am closing my business and will be seeking work elsewhere. I'm sure I'm not the only business to be affected by this, and the shocking part is the government won't give people like me a grant to pay for the equipment, even though my business provides a valuable service to London and its boroughs - recovering stranded and un-taxed vehicles. We MUST take action now before many more small business's are forced to close. In the same situation? Email me at mark@dandiautos.co.ukPerhaps if enough of us shout loud enough they will listen. Mark

Hedy
If the government took charge of controlling the pollution years ago, we would not be in this position today.Paying for the privilege of driving in our own country. Ken is limiting the people to stay like cattle in areas as it is too expensive to travel. Such control Ken and well done for being one of the most unpopular blokes that hammer the natives of this country who like to drive and be independant. l for one converted my car to Lpg to great expense to help the environment and was told l was not eligable. Car was too old, what a year! It had to be converted by their registered garages and not one of your choice, more money to the government. Every change costs the taxpayer more and more money and one day there has to be a day of reckoning, so hopefully goodbye government and goodbye Ken, and buisness can become prosperous again and not be a high percentage of closed buisness'ss.

farmer sam
All the newest lorries, cars, and trucks that are Euro 5 compliant have larger engines and lower fuel economies, yet these are the vehicles that are allowed into the zone as they have "improved" emmisions. Lower fuel economy means that you use more fuel to do the same journey????? Make sense to you?????? Nor me. Red Ken money spinner. Fact.

McPoel
They just don't care that is's got a social impact. The LEZ is for thos who have the money to comply. Or does TFL finance test cycles for older vehicles to make them comply??? No way. The money goes somewhere else...McPoel

louise
I HAVE JUST WAITED 2 1/2 MONTHS TO GET A QUOTE ON A LORRY AND ITS COME BACK WITH AN ASTONISHING £4400.00 WHY??????? IT LOOKS LIKE IM GOING TO HAVE TO SELL THE LORRY AND MAKE ANOTHER LONDONER UN-EMPLOYED IM SURE THERE WILL BE MORE PEOPLE CLAIMING BENEFITS DOWN TO THESE CHARGES, WHY DOES IT COST SO MUCH TO BE CONVERTED I WAS INFORMED THAT THE PARTS COME FROM FRANCE!!! SO THEY WILL MAKE MONEY ON US. IM SURE THERE IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO. OUR GUYS SAY LETS ARRANGE A ROAD BLOCK FOR A WHOLE WEEKEND BRING LONDON TO A STANDSTILL WITH LORRYS, VAN ETC IN PROTEST... KEN GET A LIFE AND STOP SHUTTING SMALL FAMILY RUNS BUSINESS DOWN, THE BIG BOYS IN BUSINESS JUST WIN AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!

Paul Ennis
Why are extended cab vehicles being penalised? As I building contractor I see the value of only having to send 1 vehicle to a site with 5 men and their tools, whereas now it would be 2 or 3 vehicles. I believe the Mayor has merely applied his personal dislike of this type of vehicle into the legislation. I should state that I myself do not own such a vehicle but know many other contractors who do.

steve
This is another example of red kens methods. What next? every PERSON entering London will be required to pay. Disney land do that but at least its fun!

Paul
I have no problem with a plan to get cleaner air for London, But what i want to know is how they will keep it fair, its a bit like cars now, cars from East European countries are driving around with no tax, insurance or MOT and the police have no way of tracking who owns these vehicles so how is tfl going to get their money from vehicles from east european countries where their vehicle registration systems are useless. This sounds to me like a plan to punish law abiding citizens who register their vehicles (or have to as in most European countries) and let those who can easily ignore these cahrges get off scot free.

Ken Livingstone
Another con from me, what other way can I think of next to get your money?

Steve Kind
I agree fully with this initiative in principle - despite the fact that it is going to cost me a significant ammount of money. Unfortunately, TfL are keeping very quite and inscrutable about some aspects of the scheme. As I understand it they will not accept conversion to biofuel or dual-fuel LPG/Diesel - both of which would result in massive pollution reduction. They offer the pathetic excuse that TfL would have no way of determining whether converted vehicles were actually being run on the cleaner fuels as they would still be technically capable of being run on straight diesel. This, in effect, is penalising firms that are doiung tgheir best to introduce - and use - cleaner technology, while channeling huge ammounts of money to those companies that sell pollution filters at enormous cost to users.

Nick
I think its a good scheme, but some time our waste of space government will extend it to cars, and it will suddenly be renamed the "Congestion Charge". Sound familiar?

Richard
Clean air? PRICELESS! I fully agree with this new initiative. I would also suggest to tackle the problem of polluting black taxis and push them towards a more environmentally friendly engine. All of you who are walking, cycling or riding a bike know very well what I am talking about.

Cat
I am thrilled, as an asthmatic living in Islington this should help me manage my health. People's health must come first!

JHH
NO GOOD

bryan
COME BACK DICK TURPIN ALL IS FORGIVEN,EVEN YOU HAD THE DICENCY TO WEAR A MASK FOR THIS MONEY MAKING SCAM.YET ANOTHER MONEY MAKING SCAM FOR THESE BA****ds TO RIP US OFF.VOTE BNP AND THIS WILL BE RID OF!!!

ellis
if you vote BNP this will be abolished,along with congestion charge,please get voting

Andrew
The existing congestion charge zone also should start at the M25. As inside this zone is one of the most polluted areas in western europe. Also I am sick of car owners driving around the existing congestion zone polluting my borough (Islington) without any consideration for inner city peoples health.Next Heathrow should be all bulldozed NOW!!! A new 21st century airport should be built in the Thames Estuary on a island made from recycled waste.And where Heathrow airport is now, a new London ECO City should be built, as a example of a sustainable city for the world to see. But instead of this we are going to have to suffer a extra third of a million flights over London!!!In a few years time we will have to wear gas masks to visit Richmond.

James
There are a lot of uninformed people spouting nonsense here. First, TfL can't do anything about planes, they don't run the airport or airlines, but they can do something about lorries, so well done them. Secondly, all these people saying small businesses are in trouble haven't been paying attention. You can fit abatement equipment for £500, and if you can't afford that, you shouldn't be in business anyway. And those that say the dirty vehicles will just go elsewhere: well, not if other cities do the same. It's only right that polluters pay.

kim
A number of disabled people have vans that they have paid to have converted to meet their needs to enabable them to be independent. With this LEZ they will be stripped of their independence and won't be able to afford another adapted vehicle. Thanks Ken

Jerome Perkins
These are vehicles that have passed their respective inspections as regards emissions and are legal but operators are still going to have to pay to use them in Greater London. Another fact that is often forgotten is that the environmental cost of replacing a sound roadworthy vehicle with a more "efficient" one can be much higher than that of running the old one.

psearle
Well done Ken. Londoners can breath a little more easily. It may not reduce the traffic at first but the revenue raised will support better Public services and transport links. This will also encourage better lorry design from Diesel to Electric now the technology is here to do so.

Dave E
Red Ken, money grabbing bas**rd RIP soon

JAMES WILLS
I AM SELF EMPLOYED AND HAVE JUST ONE LORRY, I HAVE JUST STARTED MY TRANSPORT BUSINESS FEW MONTHS AGO.I AM STILL TRYING TO GET MY CUSTOMER, ALL THE MONEY I HAVE SAVED FOR SOME TIME HAVE GONE INTO THE BUSINESS.IT IS GOING TO COST ME £3500 TO CONVERT THE LORRY.WHERE AM I GOING TO GET THE MONEY FROM.

John Ayres
How will foreign drivers pay if they get caught and what will happen to all the money that is taken ken ?

jagdeep jassal
I think more londoners drive to much and big vehicals should be band and the govament

Derek Hewitt
l live in central London and have had to put up with heavy traffic for years. l think anything that reduces traffic and pollution is a fantastic idea. Air quality and quality of Londoners' lives is more important than traffic freedom.

Henry
It has just been reported that buses will first have to be compliant in 2012> they are very large, heavy, large capacity diesel engines, there are thousands of buses on the roads continuously. This change wil impact small business first, big business is already mostly compliant, and has the capital to make this form of investment. This will increase relative costs for small businesses, further discourage entrepreneurial behaviour, and be used by London business as an excuse to further inflate prices. It has also already cost taxpayers 49mill pounds, and the massive increase of inspectors and controllers, the cost of maintenance of high tech machinery will push this up further. Yay, taxes will rise too! Great Job Ken!

Donald
Lets say that supply in London demands 22 ton... We are going from 1 truck with 1 driver delivering a 22 ton supply load for 1 set of fees (mot, road tax, congestion charge etc) and 1 units of CO2, we now end up with 2 x 11 ton trucks blocking more roads with 2 drivers wages delivering a 11 ton supply load for 2 fees (mot, road tax, cong charge etc) and 0.75 lot of CO2 (so 1.5 units of CO2 i,e, MORE CO2 than 1 22 truck alone, not less). How can having more trucks and higher costs be better? OH YES - twice the TAX for the government and council!

Lyndon
What about all the Dirty Taxis in London, they seem to put out more particulates than any other catagory of vehicle but suprise suprise Ken has failed to target these vehicles at all.

HARRY SHAW
Ken - by not giving enough notice to convert/replace vehicles you have closed my company which employed 5 people---- THANKS

james jones
just a con. how does it cut the pollution if the drivers pay the £200

Rob
I think its a good idea, Ken has bone more for Londoners quality of life than any one else in recent time, I as a londoner I think his program of reform is Good and should be extended, so that every one knows that London is a good place to live.

Chan MN
what happen to the trial of Water Diesel Emulsion as an alternative fuel to pure Fossils Diesel?

Lovell family
First it is totally unfair to UK lorry drivers when their foreign counterparts do not have to pay. WHY?What about diesel trans? What about all the aeroplanes that fly in and out of London? They are not diesel but they are heavy polluters.Yes this is unfair and just another money making scheme on top of all the others.What about people who live in London?

John Walsh
Just another way of raising more tax1 This will increase the price of everything and the customer will have to pay for it. We are being conned here!

Dave Hunt
Any chance of a legal challenge to this ? It appears to be hindering the free movement of people and goods. It affects most of the country who have trade with London companies, but they didn't vote for it. Maybe other cities can impose taxes on Ken's cronies when they visit ?

Van Patten
Another nail in the coffin of London. I think a lot of posts here have focused on narrowly personal issues. I am surprised at how little coverage of this idea there has been in the national press. In effect, it could reduce London to a Third World city within a decade. The area covered (all 32 London boroughs) is massive, and the effect almost incalculable. I work in the Transport Industry (Beer Distribution) and can see this, combined with a ban on patio heaters leading to the end of the pub as a London institution. Already most anlysts within in my sector feel this will push beer above the £5 a pint mark within two years. However, lest we forget, the wonderful thing about this tax is it hits every single good and service sold through shops (and from 2010 online) in the capital. Already amongst the five most expensive cities in the world, London should easily surpass Tokyo and Osaka in very short order. Truly the LEZ could only have been introduced by someone with absolutely zero understanding of economics - step forward, the current Mayor of London!

Mark Buchanan
When are the people of the country going to stand up and say NO MORE,What next? Charge us for breathing

Alan
Do I recall taxi strikes in Bombay 5 years ago when they had to change to gas in the city centre to halt pollution? Perhaps London is just catching up with the "third" world - pity it can't be done by incentives rather than fines , though..

Lez Weintrobe
"When will the LEZ operate?The LEZ will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, everyday of the year from February 4 2008."I'm not sure I can cope.Lez

Stuart
Ken's real ambition is to turn London into a 50's style communist bloc city - he's a dedicated follower of the "do as i say, not as i do" with his First Class airline seats etc. Time for him to be given a one way ticket to Cuba!

Kev
I have been driving for over 20 years and watched the costs of driving on a road soar faster & higher than a rocket being launched from NASA (where they should be charged the most LEZ penalty). When are the motorist going to get together to stop all the costs of running a motor vehicle climbimg higher than inflation. Mr Livingstone and his overpaid followers are not trying to save London & the planet, they are destroying it and the people who live in it. all i can say is YOU the motorist better think of something fast and do someting about it. Has anyone wondered why there are no organisation that actually stands up to these people & their ridiculous rules and regulations?? Ken, YOU need to get in touch with reality as people are trying their best to make a living but YOU just keep putting on the pressure, What Next are YOU going to kill them with???

RonnieRay
Please! Everyone get a grip! Wake up to the fact that less cars and lower emissions = better quality of life for us all ... The days of burning fossil fuel like there's no tomorrow are nearly over...So adapt, or just keep complaining.

alan
Over the next few years this change to low emissions would happen anyway. New lorries will be required to meet the targets when built and the older lorries will be taken off the road. This is just a scheme to make money out of everyone who needs to enter the city in a larger vehicle. A different kind of time-scale could have been set. People who up to now quite legally use recreational vehicles once a week or once a month are also being targeted, their effect is little compared to the thousands of lorries entering the city to feed and water us. Who cares?

TEN
HOW IS THIS GOING HELP, ITS A MONEY MAKING CON.AND MANY PEOPLE WILL SUFFER.

Alan London
My lungs are more important than your right to pollute London.

LoL at Livingstone
Although not affected (Yet) I do feel sorry for people who are trying to run a small buisiness and honest living. Realisticaly they will be driven into the ground as with many other people who use larger vehicals for both work or recreational purposes. I wouldnt be surpised if he taxed the very Air we Breath! As for recreational 4x4's im sorry you will need to find a new hobby, off roading will be impossible for londoners wishing to travel out and adventure. you will have to park out of london and drive to your vehicle in a smaller one. If your 4x4 gets stolen whilst parked some 100 miles from your home, send Livingstone the bill :PThere are thousands of scenarios that will reflect peoples problems regarding this LEZ tax and this debate will just go on.As with all his amazing schemes it will branch out yet again in 2010 and again to smaller cars.I urge ppl to oppose this and boycott it before any more grand amazing schemes creep up on us. PS: thanks for letting us know in good time about the scheme Mr Livingstone, what an arse!

Louie
I thought it was a joke when someone mentioned it. So Road tax, Congestion Charge and LEZ £100/200 a day charge on top of your MOT and insurance and inflated fuel prices. Wish we could be more like the French and just say "NO"

Sharon
Rebecca - you have no idea! pay 2 - 3k to convert a taxed, insured and MOT'd legal vehicle then wait to see if it actually works!!, there are no guarantees roadside tests can be carried out at any time and it your do not meet the criteria you get a £1000 per DAY fine, but the same vehicle can be driven ANYWHERE else in UK perfectly legally, just wait till you, move or want a new washing machine or say a bed delivered into Greater London see how much the operator will now have to charge - look around millions of operators will be affected from roadsweepers to minibuses even some 4 x 4 and motor homes, this zone extends to the Green belt it is not confined to inner London, why should an operator who pays the huge transport costs and maintains his vehicles to MOT standard be virtually excluded from the London Boroughs. To replace an older (again perfectly legal and roadworthy HGV) costs thousands which will eventually be passed to the customer - that's you by the way!!

Chris
Oh great, how much of the money made from this scheme will actually go towards helping our climate? People who legaly drive a vehicle are just easy targets for tax it seems.

Rebecca
Graham - you can't complain about being taxed in the same breath as saying it's a tax haven. A tax haven means that it's virtually tax free, which for the super rich here it is. Anyway, LEZ is a voluntary tax - if you don't want to pay just convert your vehicle. Simple!

ben tullett
i am outraged once again the moterest is out of pocket once again

graham
when will the government stop taxing the people on everythink.we are a tax havern county.WHEN WILL IT STOP

Freddy
the london ambulance service runs the largest fleet in the country,many of its ambulances will not pass the new LEZ rules, can you imagin the cost involved in replacing the fleet at a cost of up to £50,000 each. Oh and guess who will be paying for the modifications (if available) and the new ambulances? yep you guessed it, THE LONDONERS YET AGAIN!!

Michael
This should not happen because alot of people who work as a trade i.e electrician's plumbers who will be needed to work at the olympics games 2012 and heathrow airport will need vechicles i.e VANS to get to work and most importantly carry materials, tools etc to do the job. to introduce this and encourage people to use public transport which is un-reliable, danagerous, i.e crime, etc also the public will not want to be around trades persons with materials tools etc. public transport is very expensive and also the standard of drivers is well below what is should be. this is a very big money makeing scheme to payoff the 2012 games because the government have over under budgeted the costs just to hold the 2012 games here. most trades persons are self-employed and taking away or making them purchase new vehicles will hurt there pockets which may cause a very fast increase in unemployment and more taxes to be paid to cover this problem, and to be honest we pay to much tax for everything and we are turning into a policed run country. do as your told or suffer, well we are suffering.

HULK
Get out livingstone you p**t! tax to death thats your motto along with all your rich parasite mates.ease congestion on the roads by removing double deckers (which take about half the space of a bendy bus and replace them with extra long buses,nice one you idiot!

Colin
When Livingstone was voted in he said he wanted to attract workers to London this along with congestion C will drive them away!!

P***** Off
We own two vehicles that come into this criteria. My husbands work van and an american camper. So from 2010 we may not take any holidays and my husband will not be able to work so we may become an unemployed statistic. We have worked hard for everything we own never taking time off work but Ken Livingstone is giving us no option. Why did our grandparents go and fight wars to allow the likes of Ken Livingstone to dictate to us.

Mr D
Yet another money making scheme! But whoever comes after Ken will be doing the same thing. Politics is a business. Business is about making money. So no surprises there!

Malcolm
My lungs are more important than a few holigans who can't be bothered to maintain their verhicle engines properly. After all, only incompedently run businesses use vehicles that send most of their fuel straight out of the exhaust pipe. A good high pollution tax might encourage the purcahse of new vehicles (which would soon pay for themselves with lower fuel consumption than some old wreck)

art
go for it save the planet wooooooo!!!!!!!

Adam Prescott
Waste of time and money, who will be checking the lorries from outside the UK to see if they comply? Nice one Ken - targeting those who are less well off than you!!!

gay gasman
I will have to buy a new van to comply , great, until you to see your next bill.gulp!

angry man
yet another charge affecting small legitimate businesses.He will grind this city to a standstill.I would like to see him and his cronies try and run a small business with these and other crippling charges.

Too Bad
What is the point in writing blogs to the BEEB about this. You need to camp outside Livingstones office and throw tomatoes at him! Better yet birdseed which would be dual purpose, it would be eaten up not left to moulder, and the results with any luck would land on hapless Ken's head!

Fed Up
You keep calling him Ken, I think he's really Adolph reborn! What next, black shirted little Kens running around demanding money for BREATHING in the LEZ

david
money making

Geoff Bergman
another way of ripping off the people who live and work in London

Mike
Oh good another mad Red Ken scheme that will contribute to his downfall. I'm sick and tired of him wasting my money then stealing more off me. Why can't he instead do something about the cyclists who jump red lights and think they own the road?

Martin Wright
Why is it that, without fail, every single one of Kens schemes costs me money and yet Ive had nothing (and I mean NOTHING) in return. Thank goodness I've just moved to Hertfordshire where he can't get his grubby paws on my council tax or force me to contribute to these overwhelmingly unwanted olympics.

Mr King
I own a 2001 VW camper van that allows my family and I to take holidays in this country not being able to afford foreign holidays . Old Ken in his bitter short sighted way has even included these types of vehicles in his master plan which I find very short sighted . My camper van is now 7 years old but has only covered 21000 miles way below the national average for cars . We will have to sell our campervan as adding £200 (out and inward journey)to the cost of our holidays is prohibitive . Where as our money used to stay in this country England Scotland Wales and occasionaly Ireland , When I have saved enough money for a holiday now my family will board an exceedingly more polluting aircraft that emmits far more CO2 in one trip than my camper van would do in its life time and my money will be put into another countrys economy . My son who has camped all his short life has seen places in this country that opens his eyes to life and Gods creations educating him, but all this will have to stop because of short sighted Ken ruler of London . My camper van is less polluting than many larger cars and 4X4s but is this the next hit in his plan . Ken aims this at business with fleets of vans or even the single self employed van man who can claim back from the tax man for his commercial vehicle but what about people with camper vans living in this Great City who can not afford to just upgrade to a newer vehicle . We talk alot about carbon footprints these days well Ken take a close look at yours with your plane trips and wasted journeys and then look at the lives of the numerous campers you are destroying.

Mark Home
They have just started putting up the signs in Harefield which for some reason is on the boudary and so has roads in as well as out of the zone. If you check the map there are serious erors, when reported to LEZ they just send a standard letter which never answers the question (just like our polititions)So far 11 signs have been installed, 5 of them are at the entrance to small roads which are 50 yards long and culdesacs!!Another is placed on a seperate pole 12" in front of and obscuring a school warning sign. Wo ever is controlling the placing of these signs wants there head examined.We are ultimately paying for this rediculous scheme.They keep talking about giving the kids something to do. Who is going to replace there aged minibuses that the parents and kids have worked so hard to purchase and maintain. If a vehicle fails a specific emision test this would be effected at the MoT. Why do we need another camera system.The foreign trucks are the biggest group of non payers of the conjestion charge who is going to collect the money from them for the LEZ area, no one!! This is a cost for London just like the Olympics.

ibrahim abdi
i the whole of britain should recycle and stop using cars alot !

Anon Cov
What next, WEZ extended the charge to the west, LEZ now charges you for emmisions as one of the members of the Tommy Cooper Fan Club are they soon going to charge you for wearing a FEZZ.

ANDY SARGEANT
This stupid person by the name of Ken is just as much use as a cup with a hole in the bottom. Think about how many people this will affect going about there business, hard times are just infront of us and this wally is trying to make it worse

Francis Sweeney
It is a ridiculous idea to punish firms and people for driving a certain type of vehicle. sure have a fine system where if a vehicle can be seen to be expelling large amounts of Co2 then o.k. However, if it appears to well maintained, leave well alone. After all, all this is is another stealth tax, imposed on people just trying to make a living. If this is not repealled it will only lead to job losses.

Ian Giles
Like many other i feel the charge is unfair to Londoners living inside the zone. I own a motor home which will be changed at £100 a day I have no choice as I live under 2 miles inside the zone. If I go away for the weekend it will cost £100 out and £100 back which seems be unfair if I lived outside I could avoid the charge by not coming into the zone. This is a fine I think that the charge should be like the congestion charge with a discount if you live inside the zone. This is just another tax for living and working in one of the dearist citys in the world.Get Rid of Ken and his cameras.

David Copeman
The LEZ will hit small traders and recreational users of Van Based vehicles alike. I use a very well maintained Mercedes Sprinter which comes in well below it's MOT test emissions level and this will not be viable to use in 2010. A new van will cost £20K+ I will not be able to afford to work in London and if I can't work I can't live there! I think that the self employed tradesmen should group together and oppose this law.

J. Leonard
I cant deliver three tons of food on a bicycle Ken and Londoners still need to eat. I hope all Londoners are ready for a huge rise in the cost of living. Cheers Mr. Mayor, you truly are a man of the people

Mr Eizenhiem.
In a nutshell, the government simply wants more money, end of story. How are companies going to cope with replacing all their devlivery vehicles? newer vehicles = road tax + a total waste of energy in procuring newer vehicles. Someone should Fire Ken Livingston asap via memo. You could compare him to a tick to be honest who leeches the life's blood out of London!

Mr Reid
I think this is stupid - how about we tackle the fro m the top instead like the queen and the stupenous so-called royal family who drive in their Bentleys and high emitting CO2 cars - that would make a big difference

David Grinaway
This is great news. One day all cyclists will be able to ride without smog masks. Anything which improves road safety and benifits our planet must be seen as a good thing. The finacial disadvantages are irrelevant.

S Eagle
OK we all accept we need to look after the enviroment, but this is nothing more than revenue raising,why can't this process be done over a period of time? most of these vehicles have only got a few years of life left in them then they can be replaced with newer cleaner vehicles,. let it be a natural ageing process.I suppose KEN thinks he's going to be remembered as the saviour of the planet and a statue of him will be erected in trafalgar square, this mayor has done nothing for london!he's just made everyones life a misery! he needs to go and be replaced by nobody,the whole organization has been nothing more than an expensive wast of time, city hall needs to be closed down now!

Peter Burian
Our beloved 'DEAR' Livingstone gives more CCTV money to the 'boys', plus 'work'an army of office monitoring staff with high pensions and guaranteed votes for him whilst he delays traffic lights which create needlessly vast clouds of idling enginesfumes.

Mark, Dorset
Not to mention the added cost that will be passed onto Londeners for extra expense incurred by Delivery Firms and Road Hauliers. London will become a High Cost delivery Area for most small firms. The knock-on effects are often overlooked by government. I Suppose Londoners will have to pay extra council tax to pay for the 'gritters' extra LEZ Charge. Absurd!

Chanin
Low emission why London, Why carnt other parts of the country help to.Like London Only Paid for the Olympics and the whole country is going to it

S Allen
I understand the need to reduce emissions and clean up the london air, but yet again this charge unfairly hits the poorer community who cant afford more charges or get a newer vehicle. It will not make one scap of difference to those who are more affluent. Ken and pals want to make London an elite area for the rich

Edward Malleson
This is ridiculous. I just can't believe how stupid this country, and KEN LIVINGSTONE has become. What will the money that is recieved be used for? Presumeably the same 'fund' as the congestion charge. Soon it will be impossible to do anything without being taxed for it. I am so glad i don't live in London anymore.

Peter
Ken will charge one day for human emissions as well ...

J M White
This on top of the con gestion charge is just plain dirty.

Anita
Shame they can't tax BAA in the same way for their contribution to Emission!

L Staunton
I run a scout Group with a 10 year old mini bus ,it travels under 1000 miles a year most of which is outside the London area .It appears that we will have to repace the bus just to park it at our base in London .How can it be environmentaly friendly to scrap a servicable vehicle and then burn a great deal of energy to build a new bus that will be parked up and unused most of the time .What has happend to the concept of recycling , we are using and old vehicle that is passed commercial use but is still servicable for the occasional use we put it to .

D Fisher
Tax,Tax,Tax. If London wants a low emmision zone,it shouldn't charge people to enter it.It should just ban all offending vehicles. All vehicles that enter london and pay the charge will pass on the cost to its customers.Whether you own a car or not,we all pay in the end.The whole country was built on the motor car,i can see that this and all governments are taxing us to the limits until the oil runs out.Then they'll charge us for disposing of our unusable vehicles.Owning a car used to mean freedom.What a joke.

R Schembri
What a dirty under-handed way to con the hard pressed workers who happen to live in a London borough just because they cannot afford to buy new vehicles as the mayor has screwed us yet again, and after the hassle of using public transport all week,I am sure like Jeff Masters would agree need a break and camping breaks are all we can afford with the little money we have left over after paying out for the uncaring mayor and his office, where would he be if all boycotted London altogether.

jonny b good
another ken cock up so whats new

Mike
How are they going to police this? Are they going to employ an army of wardens to stand at the entry to every entry road?

Becky
This is a great idea, but unfair to many. When a van has the exact same engine as a car - how can that van be a risk when the car is not? VW T4 are fitted with the same engine VW fitted into a Golf. Same output!

Alan Everett
Some Land Rovers, what differance does the number of seats make the engine and drive chain is the same,how are foreign trucks taxed ?

Bill Ross (Barnsley, Sth Yorks)
It's difficult to imagine what the purpose of this actually is. It can't possibly be to deter operators of these vehicles from going into the capital. Drivers of fire engines aren't in a position to make such a decision, neither are drivers of most of the other vehicles. One day, we are all going to stop laughing at these 'jokes' and then we'll realise how serious this is. Who can guess what comes next?

John Pardo
This is another stupid idea to try and stop London working. Sooner or later nobody will want to go to London as they will be charged for breathing. If this carries on London will become a ghost town.

Mr J Congram
I phoned the LEZ helpline-0845 607 0009 and asked for some informaton and the operator had not heard of it.All i got from them was a load of nonesense and told to get a certificate from VOSA but the could not tell me why. My vhicle will be non compliant in 2010 so it will cost me £36,500 a year in charges.I have no option but to pay as i live inside the zone.The vehicle which has many thousands of miles left in it will be valueless,my dealer will not take it in part exchange because he cant sell it and at todays prices will cost me £34,000 to replace it.No one can afford this unjustifiably expensive system so all the infastructure for it will be a total waste of money.To police this, a camera system will have to be installed in every street in the zone,who is watching who? Do us a favor KEN and think again, and i bet the polluting third runway near me will get the ahead.

Tony Viall
Totally agree with Jeff Masters. I too have a motor home and have been told that their are no retro fittings available at present that would make my vehicle compliant with the LEZ anyway. The scheme is badly thought out and completly useless at reducing emissions.

Kenneth Lowe
Not against the principle of LEZ, but not enough notice given to the manufacturers to become approved by the TfL,(some manufacturer were not approved until Dec 2007, not of their fault but of the incompetance of TfL) and for them to make bespoke systems for every non compliant vehicle (which at a cost of between £2500 and £5500 plus)Then for them to have them maufactured and distributed in time, which currently takes approx. 12 weeks lead in time.I think in the circumstances TfL should delay the launch, so that the small business have half a chance. My system wont be delivered into this country until the earliest 15 February, and it was ordered in October 2007, so from the 4th until the 15th of Feb, who may I ask will be paying my bills, Ken Livingstone? the Government?? I dont think so!!!

PHILLIP ELLIOTT
I have been affected by this financially and physically.The Law as it stands is causing more disruption to so many people across not just London and the surrounding area but also across the UK.Businesses ARE massively affected with the costs of early replacement and upgrading trucks.The LEZ is a money making scam with little real benefit to the health or the environment.The majority of people in the LONDON COUNCILS are against this law...read the papers that are available online...It is severely affecting local councils services/budgets and will inevitably cause a rise in tax.It is also un-fair that the way vehicles are tested. Even though I have just built a newer vehicle with emmissions way below the MOT standards I am STILL NOT going to get a PASS to enable me to continue working in the area I live.I have Met Ken Livingstone twice and explained situations to him, HE DONT LISTEN.Wimbledon stadium may well be in financial trouble this year.Without the majority of Banger drivers taking their cars to race at the stadium, that will suffer.Spedeworth is taking itself somewhere out of the ZONE.Without the bangers the stadium cannot survive on the greyhounds alone....if it closes then what happens to the SUNDAY MARKET?I know many local businesses that ARE suffering...fact. I know people in dire straights due to this law..FACT...IT IS A BAD IDEA AND THE COST OVER BENEFIT IS VERY LOW...read the statistics.Not enough media coverage to advise the people what was coming. If you want to know more read up on websites that are not done by TFL. They are biased and do not understand the real human effect of this law...I DO...I am hit by this and so are many others with perfectly clean running vehicles...ITS WRONG..BUT NOBODY LISTENS...YET !!PHIL ELLIOT

D Thompson
I am very involved with the Air Training Corps and we struggle to keep our old miniebus on the road as it is. So is transport for london going to by all the Scouts,ATC and other4 charity's new buses?

jeff masters
The charge is unfair to Londoners living inside the zone I own a motor home which will be changed at £100 a day I have no choice as I live inside the zone if I go away for the weekend it will cost £100 out and £100 back which seems be unfair if I lived outside I could avoid the charge by not coming into the zone this is a fine I thing that the charge should be like the congestion charge with a discount if you live inside the zone.

alex thomas
This is total rubish whoever thought of this idea should go to Bangkok or Jakarta and live there for a month and see what polution is....totaly unacceptable policy