EMISSIONS ZONES AND HOW THEY AFFECT YOUR CLASSIC

Tax-exempt classics are set to avoid charges in major cities’ current and proposed emission zones, but modern classic owners are facing charges

Air quality remains a major UK issue, but owners of tax-exempt classics have escaped the worst of the proposed access charges. HGVs, buses, taxis and private-hire vehicles (PHVs) will bear the brunt of charges aimed at reducing pollution. Fewer cities than expected have replicated London’s congestion charge, which has existed in various forms since 2008. Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton were the five cities named in a 2015 Supreme Court ruling demanding immediate action regarding air quality; so far two of these (Birmingham and Leeds) have advanced plans on the table with start dates (and wildly differing strategies). Nottingham and Derby have dropped plans for Clear Air Zone (CAZ) congestion charge boundaries, but Southampton, favouring heavy goods, bus and PHV charges, remains in consultation. North of the border, Glasgow’s LEZ for buses went live on New Year’s Eve 2018; it plans to start charging cars for access in two years’ time. Glasgow City Council representatives, still in consultation, told CCW that it expects owners of tax-exempt classics not to have to pay to get into the city of Glasgow after 31 December 2022, when boundary charging will take place. Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen have been ordered to come up with plans by next year. In Wales, Cardiff has yet to reveal how it will tackle pollution levels. London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) expansion, replacing the Toxicity-Charge (T-Charge), begins on 8 April 2019 – where historic vehicles are exempted. The Federation for British Historic Vehicle Clubs’ communications director, Geoff Lancaster, told CCW: ‘We will deal with upcoming access issues for historic vehicles on a case by case basis.’