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Clean Air Zone plans ramp up around Britain
Plans to introduce Clean Air Zones (CAZs) in cities across the UK have progressed apace over the past month, although some city councils have asked to defer the introduction of their schemes owing to the effects of COVID-19.
To keep members abreast of developments, Logistics UK has updated its members-only Clean Air Zone (CAZ) briefing document, which covers the business group’s position on urban air quality restrictions and contains information on all CAZs in development, along with Low Emission Zones and other clean air measures.
In Bradford, HGVs and buses which breach pollution limits will be charged £50 to enter the city centre from January 2022, while a fee of £9 could be levied on vans. The zone will include Bradford city centre, from and including the outer ring road, extending up the Canal Road corridor and Manningham Lane into Shipley and Saltaire. More than £30 million of government funding will be available to support businesses and HGV and bus operators will be able to claim up to £16,000 per vehicle. The CAZ will be introduced in January 2022, subject to government approval.
Bristol recently submitted its full business case proposals to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The City Council is proposing a vehicle-wide Class D CAZ in the city, which will require drivers of all older, non-compliant vehicle types to pay a daily fee to enter the zone. Cars and vans that do not comply with the emissions standard will be charged £9 a day, while HGVs and coaches will pay £100 per day. The council claims that more than 71% of vehicles in the city are already compliant and the earliest it will be able to implement its zone is from October this year.
In Aberdeen, the City Council is undertaking further modelling following a consultation held last year. Three options are currently being considered and a preferred option will be consulted on in the summer, with the final scheme expected to be announced by the end of the year. The earliest the city’s Low Emission Zone will come into force is 2023.
Birmingham’s Class D CAZ is scheduled to come into effect on 1 June 2021, and will charge non-compliant HGVs £50 a day and vans £8 a day, while Greater Manchester has asked government to defer the introduction of its Category C CAZ a year from spring 2021 to spring 2022, when it proposes charging non-compliant HGVs £60 (down from £100) and making vans exempt until 2023, after which they will be charged £10 per day to enter the zone.
Natalie Chapman, Head of Policy – South, Logistics UK, said: “With Bath’s scheme due to start on Monday (15 March 2021), I am urging members operating HGVs and vans within the zone which do not meet the Euro VI/6 standard required, to take action now. If you plan to continue to operate non-compliant vehicles in the CAZ, you will have to pay a daily charge via the government’s central charging portal and you will need to set up an account. Despite our calls, the system does not have autopay functionality, so members are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the new system.”
For more information about Clean Air Zones and air quality schemes, read the Logistics UK briefing note.
*www.logistics.org.uk/campaigns/environment
Published On: 11/03/2021 17:00:03
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