Don’t wait to be run out of town

Our coaching insider reiterates his deep concern at the uncertainty created by the London Mayor’s plans for an extended Ultra Low Emission Zone in the capital

With the impending ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) in London and all that has gone before, there needs to be fairly definitive guidelines for the future of diesels operating in and around London.

There are those pressing hard for the Clean Air Act of 1956 to be urgently reformed and updated. As The Guardian reported last week Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has joined campaigners to call for a new clean air act.

This July marks the 60th anniversary of the original legislation that transformed the air in our cities and saved many lives. The Act followed the deaths of [wlm_nonmember][…]

[/wlm_nonmember][wlm_ismember]nearly 13,000 Londoners in the 1952 and 1956 smogs. The Government finally accepted that regulating factory chimneys was not enough. It had to tackle home fires too. This was politically difficult, since a cheery fire was seen as the heart of a family home.

The Act required smokeless coals and, importantly, provided money to help people to change their fireplaces and boilers to burn cleaner fuels. It worked. Air pollution improved across the UK and the deaths of up to 700 Londoners during the last great coal smog in December 1962 marked the welcome end of an era.

Since the 1970s, European countries have worked together to control air pollution over the whole continent. Over 30 years these actions prevented around 80,000 early deaths avoiding a health cost of around 1.4% of our gross domestic product. Despite this, we are still a long way from being able to breathe air that does not harm our health. Across the UK, up to 40,000 die early each year due to the state of our air.

Drawing inspiration from the 1956 Act, campaigners and MPs have called for funding for a diesel vehicle scrappage scheme to help business and car owners upgrade to less polluting vehicles. Additionally, making public transport, cycling or walking the easiest option for urban journeys could transform our cities and our health.

Now this is all very well and in the longer term may be a better situation for the health of the nation, but there are casualties at this point. London is suffering economically, not just because of the lack of coach parking and the general strangulation of facilities, but also because operators, delivery companies and anyone operating a car or van or bus, coach or lorry within the M25 motorway cannot commit to buying or leasing new vehicles owing to the fact that the date of the ULEZ zone is still a moveable feast and that apparently all diesels could be banned at a massive cost.

It has been written before that fleet replacement and renewal has been thrown into turmoil with depreciation and written down values reducing to virtually zero, as no one is buying older vehicles (that is now anything older than 2013 Euro 5) as they may not be able to use them.

Dealers of delivery vans have reported falling profits as the orders are just not coming in for new vehicles because of the uncertainty. The Kent Messenger reported that profits had fallen at Sparshatts of Kent after the van dealer had suffered declining sales last year.

“Declining motor sales put the brakes on profits at a Mercedes-Benz truck and van seller,” it reported. “Sparshatts of Kent, a commercial vehicle dealer, suffered a 14% slide in turnover to £78.3 million last year as it sold less new and used lorries and wagons.”

However, bosses said they were “very pleased” with pre-tax profits of £784,000, down 44%, and are “hopeful of further future growth,” according to the firm’s latest accounts filed at Companies House.

In December it was announced that some new trains that will operate into London terminals will be diesel as electrification of certain sections of lines has not yet been completed.

The new international cruise liner terminal at Greenwich, in the heart of London has also recently been given permission to dock large cruise ships. However, they will have to leave their engines running as there is no ‘power hook up’ – high pollution levels will result I would think.

There must be definition for the future of London, and very soon before the economy falls completely flat on its face. Is it any wonder that there are some deals to be had on Euro 5 stock if you run out of town. Don’t wait to be run out of town. With the impending ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) in London and all that has gone before, there needs to be fairly definitive guidelines for the future of diesels operating in and around London.

There are those pressing hard for the Clean Air Act of 1956 to be urgently reformed and updated. As The Guardian reported last week Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has joined campaigners to call for a new clean air act.

This July marks the 60th anniversary of the original legislation that transformed the air in our cities and saved many lives. The Act followed the deaths of nearly 13,000 Londoners in the 1952 and 1956 smogs. The Government finally accepted that regulating factory chimneys was not enough. It had to tackle home fires too. This was politically difficult, since a cheery fire was seen as the heart of a family home.

The Act required smokeless coals and, importantly, provided money to help people to change their fireplaces and boilers to burn cleaner fuels. It worked. Air pollution improved across the UK and the deaths of up to 700 Londoners during the last great coal smog in December 1962 marked the welcome end of an era.

Since the 1970s, European countries have worked together to control air pollution over the whole continent. Over 30 years these actions prevented around 80,000 early deaths avoiding a health cost of around 1.4% of our gross domestic product. Despite this, we are still a long way from being able to breathe air that does not harm our health. Across the UK, up to 40,000 die early each year due to the state of our air.

Drawing inspiration from the 1956 Act, campaigners and MPs have called for funding for a diesel vehicle scrappage scheme to help business and car owners upgrade to less polluting vehicles. Additionally, making public transport, cycling or walking the easiest option for urban journeys could transform our cities and our health.

Now this is all very well and in the longer term may be a better situation for the health of the nation, but there are casualties at this point. London is suffering economically, not just because of the lack of coach parking and the general strangulation of facilities, but also because operators, delivery companies and anyone operating a car or van or bus, coach or lorry within the M25 motorway cannot commit to buying or leasing new vehicles owing to the fact that the date of the ULEZ zone is still a moveable feast and that apparently all diesels could be banned at a massive cost.

It has been written before that fleet replacement and renewal has been thrown into turmoil with depreciation and written down values reducing to virtually zero, as no one is buying older vehicles (that is now anything older than 2013 Euro 5) as they may not be able to use them.

Dealers of delivery vans have reported falling profits as the orders are just not coming in for new vehicles because of the uncertainty. The Kent Messenger reported that profits had fallen at Sparshatts of Kent after the van dealer had suffered declining sales last year.

“Declining motor sales put the brakes on profits at a Mercedes-Benz truck and van seller,” it reported. “Sparshatts of Kent, a commercial vehicle dealer, suffered a 14% slide in turnover to £78.3 million last year as it sold less new and used lorries and wagons.”

However, bosses said they were “very pleased” with pre-tax profits of £784,000, down 44%, and are “hopeful of further future growth,” according to the firm’s latest accounts filed at Companies House.

In December it was announced that some new trains that will operate into London terminals will be diesel as electrification of certain sections of lines has not yet been completed.

The new international cruise liner terminal at Greenwich, in the heart of London has also recently been given permission to dock large cruise ships. However, they will have to leave their engines running as there is no ‘power hook up’ – high pollution levels will result I would think.

There must be definition for the future of London, and very soon before the economy falls completely flat on its face. Is it any wonder that there are some deals to be had on Euro 5 stock if you run out of town. Don’t wait to be run out of town.[/wlm_ismember]