City must clamp down on polluters
Drivers being left in the dark
Transport bosses in Yorkshire’s largest city, Leeds, must put better, greener buses at the heart of their planning – and must penalise the worst-polluting cars first – to stand any chance of bringing air pollution back to safe levels.
That’s the conclusion of a new study by national transport campaign Greener Journeys.
TRANSPORT BOSSES in Yorkshire’s largest city must put better, greener buses at the heart of their planning – and must penalise the worst-polluting cars first – to stand any chance of bringing air pollution back to safe levels.
That’s the conclusion of a major new study by national transport campaign Greener Journeys, which warns that Leeds’s clean air targets will only be met by reducing the number of cars on the roads, and targeting only larger vehicles such as buses and vans with new restrictions on city centre access will not be enough.
Leeds is one of five cities ordered by the Government to introduce a Clean Air Zone by 2020.
Professor David Begg, who is a former chairman of the Government’s Commission for Integrated Transport, says that clean air zones will not be successful if they stop short of penalising high-polluting diesel cars, focusing instead on buses, lorries, taxis and vans. And he calls on Leeds City Council to “put the bus at the centre” of its strategy, citing analysis which has found that fitting air filters to older buses is the easiest and most cost-effective way to tackle the public health emergency that the UK is facing.
The recommendations come as the Government launches a public consultation on its new draft Air Quality Plan. The plans have been criticised amid claims they do not include any concrete measures to tackle air pollution, instead putting the onus on local authorities to decide whether to charge high-pollution vehicles to enter city centres from 2020.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published its new plans to tackle air quality on Friday, following a High Court battle. The Government had sought to postpone publication, but environmental group Client Earth successfully disputed the delay.
Prof Begg said: “In its draft Air Quality Plan the Government has avoided taking tough decisions on how and where Clean Air Zones should be implemented, and has instead passed the buck to local authorities. It is now in the hands of Leeds City Council to implement a Clean Air Zone that delivers cleaner air, clearer roads and healthier citizens.
“The most effective way to reduce air pollution is not to replace older diesel cars with newer models – it is to reduce the number of cars on the road and invest in clean public transport which can dramatically cut the level of emissions per passenger. Policy must be based on hard evidence rather than political expediency. If it is to be effective, Leeds’s Clean Air Zone must charge the worst-polluting private cars.”
Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, deputy leader of Leeds City Council and executive member for environment and sustainability, said: “We need to study the Government’s plan in more detail, but to have any chance of reducing these harmful emissions we need a national solution and I’m astonished the Government appears to have again abdicated their responsibility in this way.
“However, as anyone paying attention to Leeds will know, we have recently come to an agreement with First for them to provide 284 new buses that will meet – as a minimum – Euro 6 air quality standards that will reduce NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions by close to 90 per cent for this fleet. We’ll be seeking similar agreements from the other bus companies working in Leeds.”
The Government has...passed the buck to local authorities. Professor David Begg, author of the report for Greener Journeys.
TACKLING THE toxic air pollution choking Leeds has to be a political priority in coming years but concerns are mounting that such efforts are heading for a standstill.
The job of improving air quality in the city is showing all the signs of being turned into a political football, a situation that assists no-one.
Leeds is one of five cities ordered by the Government to introduce a Clean Air Zone by 2020, which currently plans to impose congestion charges on polluting lorries and taxis but not cars. However a new study by campaign group Greener Journeys warns the Clean Air Zone will not be effective in cutting deadly air pollution responsible for hundreds of premature deaths in the city unless diesel cars are penalised.
It comes after the Government was accused last week of shifting the blame for unpopular measures to tackle the nation’s soaring air pollution levels onto local councils by leaving them to make unpopular decisions on whether charging zones should be introduced.
Leeds Council has already criticised the Government, describing the decision as “political calculation at its worst”, especially as it was announced on the day of the local election results.
The situation is alarming for several reasons, not in the least because decisions are being delayed on tackling pollution problems which the Royal College of Physicians links to cancer, asthma, strokes and heart disease.
The current uncertainty is also deeply unfair on diesel drivers, many of whom were actually encouraged to buy such vehicles by previous Governments. Clarity is needed as soon as possible.