Drivers have slammed ‘bizarre’ and ‘grossly unfair’ plans by Green Party councillors to charge SUV and large vehicle owners more to park in Oxford.

The scheme would bring the university city in line with the likes of Paris, which has seen parking charges triple for drivers of 4x4s, and Bath, which introduced an emissions-based parking charge last year.

Oxford’s councillors argue that larger and heavier cars not only cause more damage to roads but are more likely to kill or injure pedestrians and cause secondary illnesses through its emissions.

Yet motorists have said increasing the city’s already expensive car parking charges – which can reach up to £39.10 for a day – would be ‘ridiculous’ with taxi drivers and traders claiming they would have to stop working in the city.

Emily Kerr, a Green Party councillor who proposed the policy, told MailOnline the plans were a ‘common sense’ approach to the worldwide issue of cars getting bigger while our roads stay the same size.

Tim Richard (pictured) said: ‘It’s £7.50 for two hours already so I wouldn’t be surprised if they put it up to a tenner because they want to get as much money off people as they can’

Local taxi driver Daniel Gjini (pictured) said increasing parking charges for larger vehicles would affect him choosing to journey into the city

Many taxi drivers and traders have claimed they would have to stop working in the city

The motion marks the latest in a series of policies trying to reduce the number cars travelling into Oxford and the emissions polluting the city

She said: ‘As the Green Party in Oxford we put forward a motion to the city council to investigate size, weight and emission based parking charges. This would mean that larger and heavier cars would pay more.

‘It is undeniable that bigger cars take up more space and we have seen that cars have grown hugely – the Mini has grown 60 per cent, the Golf has grown 40 per cent – and car parking spaces are based off old cars.

‘So what you are seeing now is that there is not enough space in car parks, a car might physically be able to fit in a space but they cannot open their doors when another vehicle is next to it.’

Drivers in Oxford, however, slammed the proposed policy claiming that the public would view it as nothing more than a ‘cash grab’ from the council.

Pest control worker Daniel Lewis, 44, who has lived in Oxford all his life told MailOnline parking prices in the city are already ‘ridiculous’ with visitors having to pay £39.50 a day to park in the St George’s Street lot.

He said: ‘Price hiking would be ridiculous because even as standard vehicle parking here it costs almost £40 a day. On St Giles it is £13.50 for two hours but if you go somewhere like St Albans you can pay £5 for the whole day. It’s an absolute joke.’

‘I think it is unfair because you are pushing out all the drivers and during this cost of living crisis putting prices up would be ridiculous. People like myself, people who work in the city centre and rely on car parks like this – the prices here are ridiculous and I am not on great money.

‘If my company did not pay the parking charges I would be refusing to work in Oxford. What I find ridiculous is that it’s cheaper for me to travel into and park in west London than it is to park here.

‘It’s bloody ridiculous – yes the city is a seat of learning but that does not justify giving outrageous prices for parking.’

‘It’s already a nightmare because you have also have all the Zero Emission Zones,’ he added. ‘People visiting the area or delivery drivers get so confused.’

‘I am a resident born and raised [in Oxford] and I hate it here. It is already ridiculous with the LTNs – I went to the road where I grew up on Bartholomew Road and got a £35 fine.’

The scheme would bring the university city in line with the likes of Paris and Bath

Pest control worker Daniel Lewis, 44, told MailOnline parking prices in the city are already ‘ridiculous’

Oxford’s councillors argue that larger and heavier cars not only cause more damage to roads and people, but they create greater emissions

Local taxi driver Daniel Gjini said increasing parking charges for larger vehicles would affect him choosing to journey into the city. 

The 42-year-old, who drives an eight-seater people carrier said: ‘Of course this is unfair. What’s the difference between me parking in this space and another car?

‘The buses are heavier than my car and they go around Oxford all of the time. I don’t like it and it will affect businesses – but they know that and they just want to rip people off.

‘My car is Euro 6 and so is that one [the car parked in the next day] so the pollution is the same. Just because it’s bigger doesn’t mean it will be worse. It is just another reason to make money.’

Workman Tim Richard, 42, added: ‘It does not surprise me. It’s £7.50 for two hours already so I wouldn’t be surprised if they put it up to a tenner because they want to get as much money off people as they can and stop people parking here.

‘The parking in Oxford is pretty much non-existent. Fair doesn’t really exist anymore. If they made it exempt for working people, contractors like me, that would be fine but they want to make people have smaller and smaller cars but everyone’s getting bigger and bigger cars.

‘Oxford’s terrible for parking – everything is double yellows or you can only park for a few hours and you can’t return. So when you are trying to work in pubs, bookies and other businesses it is impossible.’

Claudia Feist, who was visiting the city from Germany with her daughter said: ‘Intuitively I would say this is not fair. For us as tourists it would be quite a big problem because it is already quite expensive to park here and if it became even more expensive, I wouldn’t like it.’

Meanwhile, motoring groups accused the councillor’s motion of ‘hitting people in the pocket’ during the cost of living crisis.

Nicholas Lyes, director of policy and standards at IAM RoadSmart said: ‘Discouraging larger, more polluting vehicles may seem like a worthy cause, but unless the council is providing alternative ways to get around the city, some might view it as a bit of a cash grab.

‘We would encourage the council to find other ways to improve road surfaces and safety infrastructure without hitting people in the pocket.’

Ian Taylor, of the Alliance of British Drivers, added: ‘My first thoughts were here we go again – another scheme to charge people more to drive and restrict where they drive. The whole thing is bizarre as well as being grossly unfair because we are talking about parking charges here.

‘A vehicle that is parked – any sort of vehicle, the most old fashioned diesel in the world, a small car, a big car or an electric car – the engines off while it’s parked. So what sort of vehicle it is should not make any difference and should not be brought into the occasion when working out parking charges.

‘SUV’s are bigger and they do take up more space and in some places spaces are not big enough for them but that is not unique to Oxford, indeed it’s not unique to the UK. Vehicles have become bigger everywhere.’

Conservative Leader of the Opposition on Oxfordshire County Council, Eddie Reeves, said: ‘Oxford is becoming increasingly impenetrable as a city.

‘Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council are run by various assortments of anti-business, Left-wing Councillors who have little, if any, private sector experience between them.’

Fellow Tory councillor Liam Walker added: ‘It is currently already £15.20 to park for two hours in the council spaces in Oxford and now the anti-motorist Green’s want to hammer drivers even more because of the size of their vehicle.

‘They should focus on the serious issues in the city like tackling homelessness and building more affordable homes. Residents are getting fed up with this gesture politics and constant hammering of drivers. This isn’t what residents pay their council tax for.’

Earlier this year, MailOnline revealed how more than half of new cars sold in 2023 were already too wide for the minimum 180cm on-street parking space in major UK cities.

Ever since 2001 cars have grown by 0.05cm every year with the average vehicle now measuring 180cm wide.

Green campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) also found that the average width of new cars (not including the wing mirrors) expanded by 2.5cm between 2017 (177.8cm) and 2023 (180.3cm). 

Yet some of the heaviest motors are electric vehicles which often weigh more than the average petrol or diesel car due to their weighty batteries that usually at least 500kg.

When questioned over the matter, the co-creator of the motion Lois Muddiman told the Telegraph potential charges to EVs is something the party would ‘need to think very carefully about’.

Motorists have said increasing the city’s already expensive car parking charges – which can reach up to £39.10 for a day – would be ‘ridiculous’

Mrs Kerr added: ‘Bigger cars take more space, that’s the key message. They also take up space when they are driving around and we know bigger cars cause congestion. So if everyone drives much bigger cars and the same number of cars are on the road traffic will get worse.

‘They have a negative impact. To get to your parking spot you are driving, causing additional road danger to vulnerable road users or pedestrians, and we know larger cars cause more damage to the roads.

‘It comes down to public space – you are using more if you own a bigger car so we think they should pay more. It’s just common sense.’

While a proposal detailing potential prices has not been revealed the issue will be debated later this year.

In February, Parisians voted to muscle SUVs off the French capital’s streets by making them three times more expensive to park, while calling on London to follow suit.

It is the latest move in a drive by Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo to make the host city for this year’s Olympic Games greener and friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists. 

More than 54% of the votes cast in the election supported the measure to triple parking fees for large SUV drivers from out of town to 18 euros (£15.30) per hour in the city’s centre.

Last year in September, Bath also introduced variable-rate car park charges based on vehicle emissions.

It means owners of the most polluting diesels will see a pricing rise from £1.70 per hour to £2.50 – a 47 per cent hike. 

Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) Council says that by asking people with higher polluting vehicles to pay ‘slightly more’ will encourage a ‘shift to cleaner, more sustainable travel in the city’. 

Ever since 2001 cars have grown by 0.05cm every year with the average vehicle now measuring 180cm wide. Pictured, Oxford town centre

Some of the heaviest motors are electric vehicles which often weigh more than the average petrol or diesel car

Parisians voted to muscle SUVs off the French capital’s streets by making them three times more expensive to park, and called on London to follow suit

The vote in Paris, pictured, is the latest move in a drive by Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo to make the host city for this year’s Olympic Games greener and friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists

Failure to park within the white lines of a conventional on-street parking bay in a city – like this one in London – can result in a fine for drivers. However, half of new cars sold in Britain can’t fit within the space

The motion marks the latest in a series of policies trying to reduce the number cars travelling into Oxford and the emissions polluting the city.

Oxfordshire County Council was previously dubbed the UK’s ‘wokest’ council for its controversial eco-policies, many of which focused on traffic restrictions.

Some locals were up in arms after it continued with plans to introduce a series of controversial Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) despite significant opposition from residents.

Meanwhile, just last month, the county council announced plans to rapidly expand its zero emissions zone (ZEZ) and double fines for motorists in a move that businesses said would ‘cripple’ the city.

Under current restrictions, the ZEZ only affects a handful of streets yet new plans would see this expanded out.

The standard charges for petrol cars would also be hiked from £4 to £8 with non-compliant trucks or buses hit with a whopping £50 fee to drive in the zone.

Oxford City Council said it does not comment on motions that have not yet been debated.

Mrs Kerr added: ‘This idea would just mean that drivers would pay more if they take up more space. The charges for smaller, more sensible cars should be less than it is currently so those who drive smaller cars would benefit.’

The councillor added that it would look at providing reductions for those using wheelchair accessible vehicles or exemptions for certain individuals.