Council notes:

1.    Larger cars cause more damage to our roads, are more likely to seriously injure or kill pedestrians, and take up more valuable public space. They’re outgrowing the design of our cities, especially small medieval cities like Oxford. 

2.    Cars have been growing at an astonishing 0.5cm per year since 2000.^[1] The growth in size is very pronounced among luxury SUVs. For example, The Land Rover Defender grew by 20.6cm in just 6 years. ^[2]

3.    Large SUVs are now around 2m wide, or 220cm with mirrors, compared to a minimum parking width of just 180cm. In typical off street parking spaces (240cm), large SUVs often leave too little space for occupants to get in and out of vehicles. Data published last month shows half of new cars are too wide for parking spaces.^[3]

4.    Wider cars reduce the road space available to pedestrians, scooters, and cyclists: and creates more danger for all of them. As Transport & Environment has said: “Cars have been getting wider for decades and that trend is likely to continue until we set a stricter limit. Currently the law allows new cars to be as wide as trucks. The result has been big SUVs and American style pick-up trucks parking on our footpaths and endangering pedestrians, cyclists and everyone else on the road.”^[4]

5.    Owners of larger and higher emitting vehicles cost the public purse more than owners of smaller and greener vehicles due to the higher number of fatalities and serious illnesses caused by pollution and accidents and the greater amount of damage to roads. ^[5][6]

6.    Cities across the world are taking a stand:

Council believes:

1.    It would be relatively simple to introduce increased parking charges for higher emitting and/or heavier vehicles, as the DVLA holds all this information on every car based on number-plate. Enforcement of car parks could be managed using cameras.  

2.    While Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council work together to manage car parks, and residents parking is managed exclusively by County, a joint project between City and County to come up with a fairer and more equitable charging system that more accurately reflects the greater cost to the public purse generated by larger, higher emitting vehicles would be beneficial.

Council resolves:

·       To request the Cabinet Member for Planning and Healthier Communities and the Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford and Climate Justice work closely with the County to design a more equitable system of parking charges.

·       To request that these Cabinet Members report back to this Council within 6 months on any proposals they have developed with County colleagues.

This motion was not taken as the time allocated for debate had finished.