The latest twist in the Clean Air Zone saga - and how Greater Manchester has reacted
01.06.2022 - 21:25
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Greater Manchester will not accept the government's proposal of a city centre Clean Air Zone charging taxis, vans, buses and lorries, Andy Burnham has said. The mayor was told in a letter from Secretary of State George Eustice today (June 1) to reduce the area affected by the controversial scheme by 95 pc or more, effectively containing the Clean Air Zone within Manchester city centre.
However, the letter said there is 'little robust evidence' that scrapping charges and offering funding to upgrade vehicle instead would clean up the air enough. It comes after the controversial scheme which was due to come into force across the whole of Greater Manchester this week was put on pause and the deadline by which the region must meet air quality targets was delayed.
Since then, Mr Burnham has said the region can achieve air quality compliance by the new date of 2026 without charging any vehicles at all. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service today, he said Greater Manchester will no longer accept any charges as part of the Clean Air Zone.
READ MORE: Greater Manchester's Clean Air Zone should be cut to just the city centre, says government
He said: "We have said that this can be done by incentives and that's the Greater Manchester policy. We've said if they want charges, they'll have to impose it. That's the Greater Manchester position."
Greater Manchester put forward the plans for a Clean Air Zone, which would cover the whole of the region and charge some vehicles up to £60 a day following a ministerial direction to bring NO2 levels below legal limits by 2024. However, the scheme was halted after the government agreed to delay the deadline by which air quality compliance must be achieved by two years.
It came
The website popstar.one is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can
send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.