Following a series of delays into inner city emission policies, the Bradford Clean Air Zone (CAZ), is set to go ahead on Monday (26 September), despite misgivings on the impact to local businesses during a cost-of-living crisis.
The zone will cover the area inside the city centre, and the Bradford outer ring road. It will also extend out along the Aire valley corridor, (Manningham Lane/Bradford Road and Canal Road area) to include Shipley and Saltaire. Hauliers and coach operators are being urged to be ready for the CAZ – and to find out whether their company qualifies for exemptions.
Pre-Euro VI HGVs will be subjected to a £50 daily charge, although some exemptions for local SMEs who operate within and are affected by the CAZ, may apply.
For pre-Euro VI coaches, it is also a £50 daily charge, however exemptions for SMEs that are undertaking educational, charity, social value work may also apply.
For LGVs, pre-Euro VI Diesel and pre-Euro IV Petrol vehicles will be subjected to a £9 daily charge, although exemptions and/or sunset periods for local SMEs within and affected by the CAZ do exist, with incentives to upgrade their fleets.
Disappointing
Richard Smith, RHA Managing Director, said: “Now is not the time for Bradford to be piling on the charges during a cost-of-living crisis. When pollution levels from HGVs and coaches have fallen significantly since 2013, it is disappointing that the Council are pushing ahead with outdated plans that target the wrong vehicles. We will lobby the new Government for better ways to achieve the clean air we all want.”
A similar scheme in nearby Leeds has not gone ahead and, following successful lobbying by the RHA, Greater Manchester want to implement an “investment-led non-charging Clean Air Zone” that avoids punitive charges on non-compliant vehicles.
Fairest approach
The RHA believes the fairest way to meet legal air quality limits as quickly as possible is to target the oldest, most-polluting vehicles across all types (cars, vans, HGVs and buses), with policy measures focussed on retiring the small number of vehicles generating the largest amounts of pollution.
Getting CAZ policy right will help how we decarbonise the commercial vehicle fleet as part of the Government’s Net Zero plans.
For full details on the Bradford CAZ and the charging scheme, you can visit the Breathe Better Bradford page of the council website.
Source RHA
