The idea of ditching tolls on high-polluting vehicles under a proposed Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in Newcastle seems “too good to be true”, the city’s new council leader says.
Some motorists will be charged up to £50 per day to drive into the city centre under the emissions-cutting project, though the charging zone has been postponed for now. But recent debate has raised the prospect of removing all fees associated with the scheme, amid fears that they could have a devastating impact on residents and businesses already struggling with a cost of living crisis.
After a public backlash over similar plans in Greater Manchester, mayor Andy Burnham proposed dropping the tolls entirely – in favour of a system that monitors pollution levels and offers incentives to upgrade to newer, cleaner vehicles. The government has rejected that notion and instead suggested that Greater Manchester cuts the size of its huge charging zone by 95% or more, effectively making it a city centre-only charge like Newcastle's plans, though Mr Burnham says local leaders will “oppose this and continue to argue for a non-charging CAZ”.
Asked if council chiefs on Tyneside would also seek to have the CAZ tolls abandoned here, newly-installed Newcastle City Council leader Nick Kemp said: “Of course we would look at anything that would be beneficial from a health perspective but would not hit our residents financially. Of course we would look at that, who wouldn’t? But it [Greater Manchester’s plan] looked like a request that was too good to be true, which it now looks like it probably was.”
It was confirmed in May that the controversial Newcastle CAZ would not be coming into force as scheduled this July, with no new start date set for it. The scheme is due to be imposed in response to a government order to slash illegal levels of air pollution and will result in some of the highest-polluting vehicles being subjected to daily charges to drive into Newcastle city centre, though all private cars would be exempt.
Lorries, buses and coaches that do not comply with emissions standards will have to pay £50 per day to drive into the city centre, while non-compliant vans and taxis will be charged £12.50 per day. However, promised grants of up to £20,000 per vehicle to help drivers upgrade to cleaner models and avoid the tolls have yet to be made available and there have been major fears that the charges would be crippling for many small businesses.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Coun Kemp said it feels like the current CAZ proposal “is just penalising people” and that he was “not clear that the benefits of it have been communicated or are well evidenced by the government”. He added: “There are huge positives to introducing a Clean Air Zone, around people’s health. But ultimately this is something the government is foisting on us, it is not within our remit to say yes or no.
“As a council, we have listened to the concerns of residents and they have been heightened by the cost of living crisis. The idea of introducing something now, when we are not confident at this point that there is sufficient support available and could financially impact people who are already feeling remarkably vulnerable… the delay is a demonstration that we are listening and we are concerned about people’s welfare. It is back in negotiations with the government about when it comes back.”
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