My old friend and stalwart Green councillor Steve Burgess just persuaded the City of Edinburgh Council to back his proposals on residents' parking permits. On average, his scheme will reduce the cost of parking in the city, which neatly undermines the usual Clarkson-lite frothing against this kind of measure, while providing real financial incentives to Edinburgh residents to cut their pollution. The so-called Association of British Drivers, who are presumably as representative as the Taxpayers' Alliance (click that link!), argued that the Council should abide by the results of the consultation. They presumably were not expecting that respondents would be three to one in favour of the Green proposals, and the Council has now indeed honoured that result.
Some residents will pay just £15 a year, those with the least polluting vehicles and who live in the outer areas, while the worst offenders will pay £320 a year to park their behemoths in the town centre. In the grand scheme of things, it's a very moderate measure, I reckon.
Anyway, other than being delighted about a Green win, this is an opportunity to post a pic of the current electric vehicle I've got my eye on. It's the 100% electric and 100% eccentric Aptera: the thinking man's Sinclair C5..
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