This week, the launch date for Bristol's Clean Air Zone was announced. The scheme has been controversially delayed several times and most recently had been expected to launch this September.
The CAZ start date of November 28 will mean that from that date anyone driving a vehicle that is deemed too polluting will have to pay a fee. You can find out more about the charges here and you can see where the borders will fall here.
The scheme will enable Bristol to meet its clean air targets by 2023. It has been a long journey to get to this point, so here is a timeline of Bristol's Clean Air Zone:
Read more: Where the borders for the scheme will fall street by street
2017
The Government orders the council to reduce the city’s toxic NO2 levels to within legal limits as quickly as possible. Bristol is among 24 local authorities ordered to improve air quality by the government.
Data shows air quality in Bristol is so poor that parts of the city centre are swamped in almost twice the legal level of pollution. Colston Avenue, Anchor Road and York Road are among the worst places for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels, with Bedminster Parade, Upper Maudlin Street and the Horsefair also exceeding legal limits year on year.
The report finds that Rupert Street, which leads on to the Centre, is the most polluted in the city.
2019
October
Bristol could become the UK's first city to ban diesel vehicles from entering parts of the centre. Council documents show that all diesel vehicles - except buses, taxis and emergency service vehicles - would be banned from a “small” area in the central city, regardless of their emissions output.
A wider charging zone for all higher emission vehicles except private cars is also to be introduced, according to the plans.
November
The city's ruling Labour administration approves plans that, if unchanged, would see all privately owned diesel vehicles banned from the city centre between 7am and 3pm from March 2021. The proposals would also see commercial vehicles, such as buses and taxis, that do not meet emission standards having to pay a charge of either £9 or £100 a day to enter the CAZ.
Cabinet hears the council has not decided yet on a penalty for breaching the diesel car ban but assumed a fine of £60 in its technical modelling work. Plans are now to be submitted to the government, but were meant to be submitted at the end of 2018 - with the council missing three deadlines since then.
The final plans are due to be submitted to government in February 2020 and should be in place by the end of March 2021.
2020
April
Bristol is given the go-ahead for a CAZ - but the government stops short of allowing a diesel ban. The council is told they are expected to introduce the scheme with “additional measures” by April 2021 “at the latest”.
The government has concerns with the proposed diesel ban, including assumptions about how drivers will behave. In a letter, Mr Rees is asked to submit further evidence on the proposed diesel ban and “alternatives”.
Mr Rees urges the government to delay the go-live date of Bristol's clean air programme to protect those who are already suffering financially as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
May
Air pollution in Bristol plummets by half during the coronavirus lockdown, according to figures released by the city council.
September
The council says it will propose a “small” Clean Air Zone which charges private cars as well as commercial vehicles if it is forced to submit plans for a charging zone next year. However, the council says it will fight to the last minute against introducing any charges for polluting vehicles after it was told by the government to scrap its plans for a diesel ban.
Bristol City Council must submit its final plans for reducing traffic air pollution in the city by February next year at the latest.
October
The council launches a second consultation. The consultation asked for views on two proposals. The first would see a Clean Air Zone covering an area of central Bristol where older, more polluting commercial vehicles and all private cars would be charged to enter.
The second proposal has two zones, one in the city centre and the second, larger area covering the inner city ring around the centre - as far out as Bishopston in the north, Ashton Vale and Bedminster in the south and some parts of Easton in the east. Proposals to implement a complete ban on all diesel vehicles from the city centre area have been dropped.
2021
February
After numerous delays, the council submits its final plans to central government. Under the plans, polluting private cars, taxis and light goods vehicles (LGVs) will be charged £9 a day to enter a boot-shaped zone in the city centre.
Larger vehicles - such as buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) - that emit unacceptably high levels of pollutants, will be charged £100 a day.
March
Fears that “dirty” cars will avoid Bristol’s Clean Air Zone and push pollution into the suburbs are raised.
June
A delay to the official start date is possible, the council says. After a series of delays submitting its plans to central government, Bristol City Council was ordered to have its system for charging polluting vehicles in place by October 29, 2021.
But the local authority is still waiting for the Government to approve its plans for a CAZ in the city centre, and will agree a start date for the scheme after that, according to a council spokesperson.
July
The introduction of the CAZ is put back to the summer of 2022. However, this delay will “absolutely” not affect how soon residents get to breathe clean air, according to the city's mayor.
The delay of around nine months, which Mr Rees said was requested by the Government, will still allow the city to meet legal clean air limits by 2023, a full council meeting hears. Mr Rees says the Government was yet to approve the council’s plans and needed more time to consider extra funding sought by Bristol to help residents and businesses adapt to the scheme.
Furious Green Party politicians claim ‘dithering’ of Mr Rees over the city's CAZ is costing lives.
November
Mr Rees confirms the city will get its long-awaited CAZ next summer after it received the backing of the government. An exact date for the introduction of the scheme isn't announced.
Introducing Bristol’s Clean Air Zone as soon as next summer will be difficult, but the council is “hopeful” it can do it, a top officer says. It emerges exemptions from the charges to enter the CAZ had been cut from a year to six months or less, as people will have to start paying from January 2023.
2022
February
The council announces the CAZ is expected to launch in September. One of the city's hospital trusts warns the scheme could have an impact on recruitment and retention of staff.
March
The city's mayor says the CAZ is "on track" to launch in September, but doesn't give a specific date. Furthermore, we reveal the majority of Bristol Live readers who responded to a survey on the Clean Air Zone do not agree with it.
April
Mr Rees says signs and cameras for the CAZ are to start going up.
June
On June 8, Mr Rees announces the CAZ is likely to be delayed again due to a “national issue with bus lanes”. He says the city council has done “everything we can” and blamed Westminster for the delays.
However, BristolLive understands that regulations enabling councils to apply for the legal authority to enforce moving traffic contraventions came into force on May 31, 2022 - but that these regulations are not related to Clean Air Zones.
The Greens criticise the mayor, saying his reasons are "concerningly vague" and that more detailed information is needed. It is also revealed that the council has received more than 3,800 applications for financial support ahead of the scheme's launch.
Also in June, test cameras for the CAZ start going up around Bristol. Locations include Jacob's Wells Road, York Street and Old Market. A public-awareness campaign also starts, with billboard posters appearing around the city to warn people they could be charged.
Two weeks after announcing the CAZ was delayed once again, the mayor signs a letter pledging to go further than the UK government in tackling air pollution.
July
Mr Rees announces the CAZ will be launching on November 28 - over a year late, with the scheme initially due to come into force in October 2021. Mr Rees also says he is trying to get exemptions extended.
"Poor air quality has a major impact on the health of everyone in our city and the Clean Air Zone will help us to deliver clean air in 2023," he says.
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