Following discussions between Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and the UK government, the city-region’s Clean Air Zone, due to launch from May 2021, will now be delayed.
The coronavirus pandemic, global supply chain challenges and rising prices have all impacted on the ability for businesses to be able to afford to upgrade their fleets ahead of the implementation of the charging zone. Businesses have faced difficulties around the availability of replacement, compliant vehicles and the shortage of computer chips for new vehicles.
The Secretary of State for the Environment has agreed to push back the deadline for Greater Manchester to bring levels of NO2 air pollution across the city-region back below legal levels from 2024 to 2026.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority will now prepare revised plans for the Clean Air Zone and necessary financial support to help organisations comply. However, with the extension of the deadline, Andy Burnham indicated in a statement last week that new plans could see the charging area reduced in size and scope as more less-polluting new vehicles are purchased. New plans could also see certain private vehicles, including motorhomes, removed from the regulations, although no details have yet been announced of the new plans.
A joint statement from Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and Cllr Andrew Western, GMCA portfolio lead for clean air:
“We met last week and have had further robust and constructive discussions today to find a solution. Air quality is one of our biggest health challenges and we are all completely committed to tackling it.
“We have agreed to a short time-limited pause. We will work together to deliver, by the middle of the year, a plan for clean air for Greater Manchester, one that is fair to the businesses and residents of the city-region. We will deliver improved air quality as soon as possible, not losing ambition but ensuring we take into account the pandemic, global supply chain challenges, improvements already baked into retrofits and the scope as previously laid out.
“We will now work jointly to meet the Greater Manchester and Government requirements on clean air, as soon as possible, and no later than 2026.”
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