Commercial vehicles face £ 50 clean- air fee to pass through city

POLLUTING COMMERCIAL vehicles could be charged up to £ 50 a day to pass through one of Yorkshire’s biggest cities as part of a drastic bid to improve air quality.

Heavy goods vehicles, buses, coaches and taxis are set to need to either adapt to greener fuel sources or face the charges when a Clean Air Zone is introduced in Bradford in October next year, although private vehicles will be exempted.

The plans are heavily dependent on a successful bid to the Government for £ 60m, which will be used to provide grants to the owners of polluting vehicles to upgrade to greener fuel sources.

The move comes after Bradford Council was given a “Ministerial Direction” in 2018 to drastically reduce the district’s air pollution as soon as possible. Leeds City Council is implementing similar measures in June.

A recent report suggested there could be more than 1,330 heart and circulatory disease deaths which could be attributed to air pollution in the next decade in the city.

But Chris Ashley, of the Road Haulage Association, claimed that it was “inflexible and unfair” that cars were exempted.

He added: “Pollution is not just caused by lorries. We do have an issue with the framework central government has designed and local authorities have to implement.”

Details of the proposals will be discussed by Bradford Council’s decision- making executive on Tuesday, and a public consultation branded “breathe better

Bradford” will follow shortly after.

Members will be told that for the first five years of the clean air zone, a research group, Born In Bradford, will monitor how the changes impact the health of the district. It will be the first such study of its kind, and could go on to influence future clean air policies across the country.

The proposed clean air zone would include the area within the Outer Ring Road, Manningham Lane, and Canal Road and Shipley and Saltaire. Under the plans, HGVs, buses and coaches will need to be Euro 6 compliant. Any vehicles that do not reach this level will be charged £ 50 a day to enter the clean air zone. There would be some exemptions for small and medium businesses, according to the report.

Minibuses and light goods vehicles will either have to be Euro 6 ( diesel) or Euro 4 ( petrol) compliant, or they face a daily charge of £ 9. Hackney carriages need to be Euro 6 ( diesel) compliant or face a £ 12.50 daily charge, while private hire vehicles need to be Euro 5/ 6 petrol hybrid standard or face a £ 12.50 charge.

Certain vehicle types are exempt from charges, including military vehicles, blue light services, vintage vehicles and certain educational and charitable services. The £ 60m government grant would be handed out to vehicle owners to help them upgrade.

It is inflexible and unfair that cars are given an exemption. Chris Ashley, of the Road Haulage Association.