Court widens grounds in ULEZ challenge

The High Court has allowed further grounds to be added to the Judicial Review into the proposed expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to outer London.

At a hearing last week, the coalition of councils comprising the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Hillingdon and Harrow, along with Surrey County Council was successful in its appeal, getting two out of three grounds refused in April added to the case.

Those were:

• unfair and unlawful consultation in relation to expected compliance rates in outer London
• scrappage scheme - irrationality due to uncertainty and inadequate consultation.

The court initially granted permission for the councils to challenge the legality of plans by Transport for London and London mayor Sadiq Khan to expand the ULEZ from August 2023 on the following grounds:

• failure to comply with relevant statutory requirements
• whether the mayor properly considered the previous 'buffer zone' approach as a material consideration in relation to the scrappage scheme.

Cllr Ian Edwards, leader of Hillingdon Council, said: ‘Today's result is another step forward for the coalition and outer London. These grounds are key to understanding the harm the ULEZ expansion will have on our residents.

‘The mayor estimated that only one in 10 of vehicles in outer London would be non-compliant but this is proving to be widely inaccurate. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders data shows that one in six cars registered in outer London did not meet ULEZ standards last year, and yesterday a new study by TfL found that half the vans registered in outer London are not compliant.

‘As each day passes the harm that the expansion of ULEZ will cause is becoming clearer and the sheer number of vehicles that don't meet ULEZ emissions standards in Greater London suggests there will be a massive financial impact on motorists and businesses as well as enormous social harm.’