Planned clean air zone may not include some of city’s busiest roads
£10 a day areas could change
SOME of the city’s busiest roads could be taken out of a planned clean air zone in Portsmouth after more than 2,000 people responded to a consultation.
Portsmouth City Council has heard f rom 2,100 residents and 140 businesses who told how a chargeable zone in the south west of the city – due to be implemented next year – would affect them.
As a result, a few alterations to its boundary will be considered by t he city council, including removing Kingston Crescent and Fratton Road, the Fratton roundabout and Holbrook Road roundabout.
Creating a zone to cover the whole of Portsea Island is still off the table. As reported, the gover nment is imposing a clean air zone in Portsmouth that will mean charging non-compliant buses, coaches, taxis and heavy goods vehicles – and potentially vans and minivans – as a way to reduce levels of har mful nitrogen dioxide.
Councillor Dave Ashmore, the council’s environment cabinet member, said: ‘As this is a gover nment imposed thing from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs we still don’t
get a say in whether we have a clean air zone or not.
‘What we wanted to do is make sure we consult with businesses, residents and taxi drivers to see what
would be more effective for them.’
However, Conservative councillor, Luke Stubbs, said: ‘Leeds City Council is considering dropping its clean air zone because air quality has improved as the number of vehicle movements has fallen post-Covid. We should do the same. The level of emissions in Portsmouth was only ever marginally over the limit and if in
future more people work from home then the charges will be hard to justify.’
Cllr Ashmore added: ‘At the beginning of lockdown yes pollution went down because people were staying at home, businesses were shut and there wasn’t much need for cars and other polluting vehicles to be on the road.
‘Since restrictions have eased up the levels are building back to where they were,
so it’s still needed.’
Non-compliant vehicles could be charged around £10 a day in order to drive in the zone.
A report will be discussed at a city council cabinet meeting next week.
If in future more people work from home charges will be hard to justify. Councillor Luke Stubbs