Sutton Council has formally responded to the Mayor of London’s ULEZ expansion proposal saying it cannot back the ULEZ expansion as currently proposed.

Councillor Barry Lewis, Chair of Sutton Council’s Environment & Sustainable Transport Committee wrote to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan on Friday outlining the Council’s objections.

“Whilst we welcome initiatives which may improve air quality and people’s health, any expansion of the ULEZ to Sutton must be accompanied by significant investment in public transport, better cycling and walking infrastructure, a fair and comprehensive scrappage scheme and an extension of the planned implementation date”.

In the letter to the Mayor, Councillor Lewis highlighted the concerns of local residents about the scheme that must be considered and responded to before any expansion is agreed. This included the lack of investment in Sutton’s sustainable travel infrastructure compared to the extensive investment in inner London before the ULEZ was implemented there.

“We have not had our fair share of investment in public transport infrastructure and services from the Government and London’s Mayors. Greater London Authority research* shows that the London Mayors have invested less money in Sutton than any other borough. Sutton has received the lowest amount of transport investment per resident of any London Borough since Mayor Khan was first elected in 2016. Even excluding those Boroughs that have benefited from Crossrail, or those in Inner London, other boroughs such as Richmond upon Thames have received £1,911 investment in transport per resident while Sutton has received just £73”.

In light of the costs the proposal will impose on those travelling from outside London to shop, work and do business in Sutton, Councillor Lewis added “The proposal needs to demonstrate that it is being fair on Sutton, with any potential economic impacts on our town centre, district centres, the London Cancer Hub and industrial centres being fully assessed”.