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.
