A Conservative politician has defended the abundance of rich residents in Central and West London who drive SUVs.
Research by two charities discovered that in 2019, Kensington and Chelsea residents have been extra seemingly to purchase an SUV (sport utility car) than individuals from wherever else in the nation.
This is regardless of their conventional affiliation with rural motorists who want to barter uneven terrain, slightly than cities with slender streets and tight parking areas.
They additionally emit greater ranges of carbon than smaller automobiles.
SUVs, nicknamed by some as “Chelsea tractors”, made up 36 per cent of all new registered automotive gross sales in Kensington and Chelsea in 2019.
The neighbouring borough of Hammersmith and Fulham got here second. There, 30 per cent of all new gross sales have been SUVs. In third and fourth locations have been Westminster and Richmond Upon Thames, with 29 and 27 per cent respectively.
The New Weather Institute and Possible, who analysed the 2019 automotive gross sales, additionally discovered that three quarters of all SUVs offered in the UK have been registered to city addresses.
London Assembly member Tony Devenish – a Conservative whose constituency consists of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster – argues that SUVs are “usually important” for residents in these areas.
“My constituents usually don’t see themselves dwelling ‘in Town’. SUVs could also be purchased in cities and cities, however many, like a lot of the nation post-Covid, get pleasure from the better of each worlds, working from residence in rural Britain and having fun with City life,” mentioned Mr Devenish, additionally a councillor for the Westminster ward of Knightsbridge and Belgravia.
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He went on: “An SUV is usually important in case you are a part of the sandwich technology, taking care of youngsters (in totally different faculties), having fun with time with aged mother and father and being a part of the increase in dog possession whereas holding down a profession.
“SUV owners are additionally environmentally pleasant and I’m usually requested about plans to maneuver to electrical automobiles – which many are eager to embrace.”
Mr Devenish will probably be standing for re-election on May 6, when the London Assembly election coincides with the ballot for a new London Mayor.
His Labour counterpart, Rita Begum, didn’t remark immediately on the excessive quantity of SUVs in their patch, however she pressured that her celebration, and Sadiq Khan, would do extra to deal with local weather change.
Tony Devenish has mentioned SUVs are ‘usually important’ for residents in a few of London’s most prosperous boroughs
Ms Begum mentioned: “This election is a two-horse race between Sadiq Khan – who will prioritise air high quality and the environment – and the Tory candidate [Shaun Bailey] who has dismissed each environmental coverage that Sadiq has applied.”
Mr Devenish mentioned his constituents “don’t want” a deliberate enlargement of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone cost which is able to take impact in October.
According to the Possible and the New Weather Institute’s analysis, the areas with the highest volumes of SUV gross sales in 2019 have been:
- Kensington and Chelsea – 36 per cent
- Hammersmith and Fulham – 30 per cent
- Westminster – 29 per cent
- Richmond Upon Thames – 27 per cent
- The Cotswolds – 26 per cent
- Elmbridge (Surrey) – 26 per cent
- Wandsworth – 26 per cent
- Camden – 26 per cent
- South Bucks – 23 per cent
- Sevenoaks (Kent) – 22 per cent
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The two charities mentioned that to restrict carbon emissions, producers of SUVs ought to cease directing their promoting in direction of city residents.
Their report concludes: “We name on artistic businesses and their media companions to proper this fallacious by rejecting future promoting work for polluting SUV automobiles – once more as extra moral practitioners as soon as rejected tobacco purchasers.”
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