Decision due on if Clean Air Zone will get go-ahead

A DECISION was due today on the controversial Clean Air Zone (Friday, July 1).

A committee was planned convene to discuss and vote on plans for a Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester, in order to meet a government imposed deadline.

The proposals have been heavily altered over the past months following public protests about previous plans for a charging zone that extended across the city-region.

Mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham updated the Greater Manchester Combined Authority at a meeting this morning on the matter.

He said: “A week today there will be a meeting of the Clean Air Committee and to fit to the deadline given by the government, the committee will be seeking to agree the proposal for a non-charging category B Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester.

“Following the extension of the two years negotiated, we have had the opportunity to fundamentally change the nature of the scheme.

“I’m confident in reporting that the evidence backs up, completely, the proposal that we are making and we will be standing our ground behind that proposal. The indication from the government is that they are still insisting on a smaller, charging, category C scheme, but our position is clear.

“Of course we have already entered negotiations with the government, but our position is fundamentally as I’ve described.

“We will not be supporting any charging scheme in Greater Manchester given the issues that we’ve talked about before; the cost of living pressures on our businesses, the challenges the city centre has in recovering from the pandemic.

“We believe that this is the right proposal for the time that we are in.”