Clean Air Zones coming to a city near you!
Posted 2nd August 2018 Web Dev Team
Environmental, Government
Tags: CAZ, Clean Air Zone, Derby City Council, Leicester City Council, Low Emissions, Nottingham City Council
Under the new Clean Air Strategy 2018, a consultation process was set out by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Services (DEFRA). As a result of this many towns and cities in the UK are considering the introduction of Clean Air Zones (CAZ) or Low Emission Zones (LEZ) as a way to combat the growing concerns of pollution levels which the World Health Organisation has identified as a significant threat on the health and lives of individuals.
As part of the consultation process many councils are now outlining and considering new plans which would mean that drivers and businesses could be charged for driving into a city centre boundary or its urban outskirts.
Derby leads the way for Clean Air Zones in the East Midlands
The race to be the cleanest city in the East Midlands is certainly heating up with Derby leading the way, demonstrating their ambitions for Clean Air Zones and pioneering the way as a green innovator in the region. The city is not only cleaning up with the push for Clean Air Zones, but they are also supporting the same philosophy through Derby based industry, who are developing newer, cleaner and more efficient technologies from the likes of Rolls-Royce who are investigating EV powered jet engines with Siemens.
Juxtaposed with Nottingham City Council who claimed that a 'Clean Air Zone is no longer necessary' [1], (even though it was identified as number 16 [2] in the worst polluting UK cities) and Leicester City Council who are only expected to apply CAZ to buses from 2020. Derby's innovations could have sparked a revolution this week from their announcements with those for, against and in competition.
Derby's Clean Air Zone Options
This week's announcement from Derby City Council outlined three possible options that could introduce clean air zones to the city of Derby, meaning drivers and businesses could be paying up to £20 a time to enter the city. This has the potential to affect thousands of motorists and businesses. For those businesses who operate a fleet, it may be time to book a free consultation with Sandicliffe Motor Contracts for up-to-date advice on how to tailor your future mobility plans to align with the Clean Air Strategy.
Option 1 – Traffic Management Measures
The first option – a £20m to £30m plan – would involve changes to the Stafford Street part of Derby with new measures which would insure smoother flow of traffic. This could also include one-way schemes, traffic priorities at key times and altered junctions.
This option would be the quickest to deliver from the Government's perspective and would also offer incentives for people to change their non-compliant vehicles by either trading them in for up to £6,000, having equipment fitted where possible to make them compliant, or looking at having an alternative power source fitted such as an LPG system.
The same incentives would also exist for options two and three.
Option 2 – Chargeable Clean Air Zone within the Inner Ring Road
In the case of the £30 million option two, this would affect the area within the inner ring road and non-compliant vehicles only would pay a clean air charge if they crossed the boundary at a series of major points which would be monitored by cameras.
This charge would be up to £20 in the case of cars and potentially £100 for non-compliant lorries.
Option 3 – Chargeable Clean Air Zone within the Outer Ring Road
Option three, which could cost £60 million, would cover an area bounded in the city by the outer ring road and drivers of non-complaint vehicles would be charged every time they entered the city.
Although it is not entirely clear which specific makes and models would be non-compliant, it is likely this will be by a restricted vehicle CO2, in general terms some pre-2015 diesel and pre-2014-15 petrol vehicles would be non-compliant.
Councillor Matthew Holmes who is leading the project said 'this is something that Derby has to do' and wants people to have their say on which option they would prefer to introduce [3].
CAZ coming to a city near you soon!
Like Derby City Council, many cities across the UK are also looking at Clean Air Zones and with this many business need to start planning and preparing for the potential risks and threats which may be presented to their business operations. Want to know which cities are looking at introducing CAZ, click here.
[1] Nottingham CAZ
[2] Most Polluted Cities
[3] Story source: Derby Telegraph
(Images/Content source: Derby Evening Telegraph)
Contact Sandicliffe Motor Contracts today and we will evaluate the potential threat that any CAZ may have on your vehicle fleet and your ability to operate:
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