More businesses eligible for clean air zone grants
MORE business owners will be made eligible for funding to help them buy less polluting vehicles and avoid Newcastle’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) tolls.
Council bosses have confirmed they are widening their CAZ grants scheme so that more people will qualify for financial support to upgrade to newer, more environmentally-friendly models.
Most of the £15m of Government funding given to Newcastle City Council to hand out grants remains unspent, more than a year after applications opened, and bosses have come under pressure after imposing strict criteria that many motorists could not meet.
The scheme’s original rules required applicants to prove that they had a business need to enter the city centre CAZ at least twice a week over a three-month period, something which many small traders said they were unable to provide documentation for.
That requirement is now being relaxed so that any van, light goods vehicle or minibus that does not meet the CAZ’s environmental standards and is registered to a home or business address in Newcastle, Gateshead, or North Tyneside will qualify for upgrade funding.
However, there will still be limits to the criteria that mean not everyone who has sought help will be automatically able to claim a grant, including those based in neighbouring areas like Northumberland and South Tyneside.
The council had previously paused the grants programme in order to launch a review into how to make more people and businesses eligible.
Only £2.5m of the £15m available has been handed out since applications opened in November 2022, though a further £2.8m worth of grants have been approved but are as yet unclaimed.
Just 668 vehicles have been successfully upgraded, though funding has been approved for 1,298, while 1,379 applications have been rejected.
The council estimates that up to 500 residents, businesses, and community groups who were previously unsuccessful will meet the new criteria.
But the change will not satisfy everyone. Blyth-based Phoenix Executive Coaches is contracted by the council itself to provide home-to-school transport for children across Newcastle with special needs. Yet the company has been told it cannot get help to replace its specialist minibuses because they do not actually have to drop off or pick up anyone within the CAZ itself.
Phoenix director Ken Turner has complained that the result has been his vehicles putting more miles on the clock and “polluting other parts of the city instead” as they now take longer routes to avoid being hit with a toll.
As it is based in Northumberland, the travel firm will still not be eligible for a grant. A frustrated Mr Turner told The Journal: “This money has been given to the council from the Government and is ringfenced for this purpose. Why not just give it out to the people who are asking for it, instead of keeping it in the bank and not spending it? It is crazy.”
A spokesperson for CAZ said: “The changes that we’ve made will enable hundreds more local businesses to qualify for funding support towards the cost of a cleaner vehicle. However, the funding we have for grants is limited and therefore we are continuing to prioritise it for those applicants who are most regularly required to operate within the Clean Air Zone.”