Residents are being urged to make sure their voice is heard, as the consultation on a carbon emission based parking charge system ends today (Friday).

Plans to charge residents who live in controlled parking zones (CPZ) more to park if their cars produced high CO2 emissions - and less if they produced low emissions - have been under consideration for around a month.

A questionnaire has been sent to 3,500 residents and 1,500 businesses asking for thoughts on emission based structure for parking permits and a differential structure for second and subsequent permits and every resident who lives in a CPZ has also been asked.

Councillor David Trigg, Richmond Council cabinet member for traffic, transport and parking, has told residents that if they have anything to say on the matter they should contact the council by the end of the day.

But he did admit that with hard copy letters the council would be flexible given the vagaries of the Royal Mail system, especially close to Christmas.

The proposals continue to be criticised in some quarters with Roger Lawson, London regional coordinator at the Association of British Drivers (ABD), urging residents to contact the council and their local councillors to defeat the proposals, which he said are a way to fill the council's coffers and Twickenham man Tony Elsom said the plans were fundamentally unfair.

Michael Glazebrook, the chair of the Kew Society, described the proposal as clumsy and said a lot of people did not like it at the society's extraordinary general meeting on Monday and expressed concern at where the money was going.

"I think most people will just stump up the money," he said. "I know years ago we were asking the council to get us CPZs and we were grateful when they got the commuters out of Kew. Now they are turning it around and charging us more for it."

A vote among members at the meeting revealed just three were in favour of the proposal and the society is set to voice concerns with a letter to Richmond council.

Coun Trigg said there had been a mixed reaction in the responses to date with some residents vehemently against and some vehemently for while others are broadly in favour, with some caveats.

"There are some items in the proposals that we will have to address," he said. "But I can't pre-judge the consultation and I am led to believe there has been a large response and I am very pleased we have had a positive response."

Coun Trigg said that he hoped the plans would go before a council scrutiny committee sometime in the middle or end of January and before the council's cabinet at the end of January.