Will paying more produce less of THIS?
BUT IT STILL WON’T BE ENOUGH TO FIGHT CRISIS
DRIVERS on Tyneside are facing a new toll for high polluting vehicles on the area’s roads – but even that will not be enough to solve the North East’s emissions crisis, it has been revealed.
Councils in Newcastle, Gateshead, and North Tyneside were ordered by the Government in 2017 to clean up the air in a number of pollution hotspots by 2021, either by imposing a charging zone or finding equally effective alternatives.
But the three authorities have now announced that their studies show that even the harshest available toll – affecting all of the highest polluting cars, taxis, buses, coaches, and lorries – would not bring nitrogen dioxide levels within legal limits.
The strictest possible charging zone considered by the councils involved a £12.50 per day charge – or £50 for buses and HGVs – to enter an area covering the centres of both Newcastle and Gateshead, stretching from the Felling Bypass all the way up to Gosforth and also down the Coast Road.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) could force the councils into imposing a toll, but local leaders are urging ministers to instead invest in other measures to bolster air quality such as public transport improvements and a scrappage scheme for older diesel cars.
Coun Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle City Council [pictured inset], complained that any charges would be “profoundly damaging” for Tyneside’s poorest communities and that the Government insisting on introducing them would be the “worst case scenario”.
He added: “We know that poor air quality is the 21st century public health crisis that many cities are facing.
“We know that several hundred deaths every year are attributable to poor air quality. The evidence is increasingly clear and what we have been doing for the last two years is working on proposals which will improve our air quality in the short, medium, and long term.
“What we are faced with, however, is a Government intervention trying to force us down a particular road and we are concerned about where that Government direction might take us.
“The Government proposal for dealing with air quality is a Clean Air Zone. That would penalise motorists and, particularly in areas like Newcastle, increase inequalities by forcing some people on the lowest incomes to pay huge amounts of money.
“We do not think that is the most appropriate long-term solution. That is why we want a much more comprehensive package of measures.” The councils say that the Government could instead implement a tax break for electric vehicles, end the bidding processes that force Newcastle to compete against other cities for investment in retro-fitting buses or road
improvements, introduce a national scrappage scheme for older diesel vehicles, bring forward investment in the Metro, and put more money into cycling infrastructure.
Clean Air Zones are being introduced in cities across the country to reduce pollution, but Coun Forbes said that Tyneside is in a unique position because a higher proportion of the region’s emissions are caused by private cars commuting to Newcastle.
The three councils were due to submit their final recommendation to DEFRA by the end of 2018, but were only able to submit a preliminary report.
Gateshead Council transport chief, Coun John McElroy agreed that solutions are needed on a “national scale”, and also said that imposing a congestion charge for all vehicles in the city centre at some point in the future could not be ruled out.
The councils have tested four possible charging zones – the most lenient of which would only apply to buses, coaches, taxis, and HGVs.
But their modelling shows that all of those solutions would still result in emissions levels above the legal limit on the Central Motorway East and roads approaching Central Station by 2021.
The cars that could be hit by the charges would be diesels made preSeptember 2015 and petrol cars made before January 2006.
But North Tyneside councillor Carl Johnson said that even if every high polluting vehicle on Tyneside’s roads was replaced there would still be a pollution problem on the Central Motorway because of the sheer volume of traffic.
The councils will continue further analysis of their findings this month before telling the Government in February what action they intend to take, which would then be subject to a public consultation.
Newcastle’s cabinet member for transport, Coun Arlene Ainsley, said that doing nothing is “not an option” and that she would rather keep traffic on the Central Motorway than have it diverted to residential areas.
A Defra spokesperson said local authorities are best places to decide “how to tackle air quality.”