Charging for this car park isn't green, it's stealth

A few people including the minister responsible for Royal Parks, Margaret Hodge, have dismissed the protests on the basis that Richmond and Kingston are affluent, and that its residents can afford the charges. Of course a lot of local people can. But there are many — pensioners, mothers with children, dog walkers — for whom visiting the park will become a serious budget decision. That cannot be right.

The 5,000 or so acres of Royal Parks are one of the things that make London special. They need our support. But these proposals will not only alienate the very people who love and use Richmond Park — they make no financial sense. It will cost nearly £3 million to urbanise the park and it will generate about £400,000 per year. So it will take roughly seven years to pay back.

There are so many ways to raise the money. For one thing, there are empty buildings waiting to be rented out. There are opportunities to sell merchandise. If London Underground can pull it off, the Royal Parks certainly can. And why not introduce honesty boxes at the gates, and in the car parks? If everyone who used the parks donated just 12p per year, the budget would be filled.

But the big mistake the parks have made, and by extension Hodge, is to label the proposal a "green tax". This has become the habit of bureaucrats wanting to push through unpopular proposals. Call it "green" and everyone is supposed to buckle. People aren't stupid. They can spot a stealth tax and all this does is erode people's appetite for genuine green solutions. The damage done to green politics by such clumsy measures is immeasurable. Without proper green taxation we can't put a price on pollution, waste and the use of scarce resources — nor can we pay for the green alternatives.

Charging people to park in the park will have no impact on traffic, and virtually none on use of the parking areas. People will either pay up, or park in nearby streets, causing localised problems.

If we want to green up our cars, there are far simpler methods. Denmark, for instance, taxes people for buying dirty cars, and uses the money to make cleaner cars cheaper. Because it all happens at the point of purchase, no one is punished for decisions they've already taken, and their treasury isn't enriching itself in any way. We can also push for higher car engine standards in the EU. These two initiatives would immediately reduce our emissions and our dependence on oil.

Fortunately there is now a cross-party consensus on this issue between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. If the Conservatives form the next government, we will scrap the charges, as long as alternatives can be found for the shortfall. They can and will be found. And so, if the polls are correct, Richmond and Bushy will remain free from traffic wardens — and no one will have to wonder if they can afford a walk in the park.