Low-emission zones to spread

● “Clean Air Zones will target polluting vehicles in Leeds and Birmingham by 2020”

More UK cities plan charge for heavy-polluting vehicles

LEEDS and Birmingham are set to join London in creating new lowemissions zones that would see older diesels and petrol vehicles charged up to £50 a day to enter the city centres.

Clean Air Zones in Birmingham and Leeds will target polluting vehicles by 2020. In Birmingham, pre-euro 6 diesel and pre-euro 4 petrol cars, as well as taxis and private hire vehicles, could be charged between £6 and £12.50 a day to enter the city centre under council proposals.

According to the plans, pre-euro 6 buses, HGVS and coaches could face daily charges of £50. Leeds City Council aims to have similar charges for buses, HGVS, taxis and coaches in place by 2020, although it has said it won’t charge private cars.

Other cities working towards low-emissions areas and Clean Air Zones include Manchester, Glasgow, Derby, Nottingham and Southampton, but these have yet to clarify whether drivers will be charged.

The cities are taking advantage of the £255million fund announced by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) towards improving local air quality.

In its 2017 Air Quality Plan, DEFRA advised councils to consider various ways to reduce roadside pollution that has been found to contribute to 40,000 premature deaths every year in the UK.

While other European countries, notably Germany, are pursuing an outright ban on older diesel cars in parts of some cities, experts predict the UK is far more likely to follow a path of charging zones for older vehicles as more Clean Air Zones are planned.

Anna Heslop, lawyer at environmental consultancy Clientearth, previously told Auto Express: “It’s far more likely that UK local authorities will introduce clean air zones, and charge polluting diesel cars to enter, than a blanket ban on diesels.”

Plans in Leeds and Birmingham are under review by the respective cabinets and boards, following positive feedback from earlier public consultations.

Birmingham and Leeds plan £50-a-day charge for big polluters