Update 29/8/2023: ULEZ starts today and if your vehicle does not comply you will have to pay the ULEZ £12.50 charge to drive within Greater London each day you drive within the zone. When paying the charge please ensure you are on the TfL site and not one of the unofficial scam sites: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/ulez-payments.
You can check to see if your vehicle is exempt by entering your registration on the TfL website: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/ulez-vrm-checker.
Petrol vehicles after 20207 and diesel vehicles after 2015 normally comply. It is possible that some older vehicles can also be exempt if their engine complies with Euro 6 standard. These can be individually registered, but you will need confirmation from the manufacturer: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/compliance-registration/before-you-start.
All foreign registered vehicles need to be individually registered: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/compliance-registration/Non-UK-vehicles-driving-in-London.
The following Roads in Coulsdon are exempt:
- Coulsdon Road from the borough boundary to Marlpit Lane
- Marlpit Lane
- Brighton Road from the borough boundary to Lion Green Road (but not the A23 Coulsdon Bypass)
- Lion Green Road
- Chipstead Valley Road from the borough boundary to Lion Green Road
- A map is available on the ECRA website
- This means from the south you can drive to and park in Lion Green car park, but you can’t drive into the town centre
There are ULEZ cameras on the following roads:
- Sandown Road
- Woodcote Grove Road (at the Post Office)
- Brighton Road (at Lion Green Road and the Methodist Church)
- Coulsdon Bypass
- Marlpit Avenue
- Stoneyfield Road
- Cannons Hill
- Keston Avenue
- Waddington Avenue
- Lacy Drive
It is possible additional cameras may be installed at a later date.
On Tuesday 29th August 2023 the London Mayor intends to extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone scheme (ULEZ) to all of London, charging non-compliant vehicles £12.50 per day. Although this is proving controversial with many MPs opposing this, it is in line with Government policy which wants to move to road pricing. At present the implementation date is subject to a Judicial Review (JD) brought by 4 London Boroughs and Surrey County Council. This could allow it to go ahead, delay it or ask the Mayor to revise it.
Why is the Mayor doing this? One of the unforeseen results of the change to Diesel vehicles was that there has been an increase in emissions of nitrous oxides (NOx) and particulates at street level. These particulates are one of the major causes of poor air quality in London and are particularly harmful to children as they can get deep into their lungs. One child death in London has already been attributed by the Coroner to road pollution. A study carried out for the Mayor in 2017 showed that pollution in all of London was above World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. Some days even on Farthing Downs pollution was one level above WHO standards and in the Coulsdon town centre it was two levels above.
From 26th October 2020 the existing Low Emission Zone was extended to all of London including Coulsdon, but this only applied to all Lorries and vehicles over 3.5 tonnes which must comply throughout London from the borough boundary at Coulsdon.
From 25th October 2021 the ULEZ was extended from central London to the north and south circular roads. Vehicles with a registered disabled driver or disabled passengers will be exempt until 2025.
From 29th August 2023 all vehicles across all of London will have to comply with ULEZ or pay a £12.50 per day to drive in London. To comply and not be charged you will have to have a vehicle that complies with the following standards:
- Motorcycles Euro 3.
- Petrol cars, vans and minibuses Euro 4 – most cars manufactured after 2007.
- Diesel cars, vans and minibuses Euro 6 – most cars manufactured after 2015.
- Lorries, buses and coaches Euro 6.
You can check to see if your vehicle is compliant on the TfL web site: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone
There is a scrappage scheme to assist people to purchase compliant vehicles which has paid out £18m so far. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/scrappage-schemes#on-this-page-0
Failure to pay will result in a £160 to £1,000 fine. Enforcement is by Camera and most of these are already in position on the Coulsdon Bypass and the A23.
However, if you look at the map (click here to view) there are a number of roads in Coulsdon that are exempt. These are to provide what are called escape routes for HGVs so they do not have to U turn, but can drive out of the ULEZ.
These are the roads in Coulsdon: Coulsdon Road from the borough boundary to Marlpit Lane, Marlpit Lane, Brighton Road from the southern roundabout to Lion Green Road, Lion Green Road and Chipstead Valley Road and all roads in between. In Purely it is the Godstone Road from the GLA Boundary to Purley Cross, but no other roads. These exemptions still appear on the consultation map.
This would mean that if your vehicle doesn’t comply, from the south you could drive to Lion Green car park, but not to the town centre or along the bypass.
If you have European Visitors to avoid a fine it is important to register their car with TfL https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/compliance-registration/register-a-foreign-vehicle
London is not the only town introducing Low Emission Zones; Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Oxford, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Tyneside Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, Check the Government web site to see what vehicles are included: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/driving-in-a-clean-air-zone#cities-with-clean-air-zones.