Greens on Sheffield City Council have welcomed plans to end free parking for electric vehicles in Sheffield.
At a meeting of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee on Wednesday, a report was considered to phase out the parking permits. The report called on the council to “no longer issue new, or renew existing, green parking permits from 31st July 2025”. This will mean that the scheme will be phased out by July 2026.
Green Permits were originally introduced in Sheffield in 2005, when there were only a handful of electric vehicles in Sheffield, as an incentive to switch from petrol or Diesel to electric. Since then, sales of electric vehicles have rocketed, with over 9,300 new Ultra Low Emission Vehicles registered in Sheffield in 2024. There are now 5802 Green Permits, but there are fewer than 1800 Council-operated parking spaces in the city centre.
Green Party Councillor Alexi Dimond, who is Deputy Chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Committee, said,
“I am glad that the Council has finally agreed to phase out unfair free parking for certain private vehicles. The Green Party has long called for an end to ‘Green Permits.’. This has been a proposal we have pursued in our budget amendments in previous years. We are glad the Council has now seen the strength of our argument for their removal.
“While electric and ultra-low emissions vehicles are preferable to more polluting ones, the council should be encouraging people to come into the City Centre by public transport and by active travel – not by private car. Subsidising people who will generally have higher incomes is not fair and reduces funds to pay for other services. With so many ‘Green Permit’ holders being commuters who stay in their parking spaces all day, there are fewer spaces for people who pay for their parking spaces, fewer spaces for blue badge holders, and fewer spaces for those who genuinely need to bring a vehicle into the city centre. This also means increased congestion, air pollution and road danger, as people drive around looking for a space.”
The council will continue to support the take up of electric vehicles by investing £125,000 for the installation of Electric Vehicle Charging points and by accessing further funding from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to support this.
