Greater Manchester’s clean air zone should not charge any vehicle, says Andy Burnham in U-turn

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No vehicles should be charged to enter Greater Manchester’s new Clean Air Zone, Andy Burnham has said in a major U-turn following months of protests.

The roll-out of the 500 square mile CAZ – the biggest in Europe – was paused last month amid growing fears it could put thousands of businesses and jobs at risk across the region.

The scheme would have seen high-emission vehicles, including older buses, lorries and private hire cabs, charged up to £60 a day to drive within the zone from May.

But Greater Manchester mayor Mr Burnham – who had been trying to drive forward the implementation – has now written to prime minister Boris Johnson asking for the government to support a scheme without fees instead.

“We are of the clear view that any new scheme should be based on incentives for individuals and businesses to change vehicles rather than a charging penalty regime,” he wrote.

But he added: “To succeed, this will require your government to agree to the extra financial investment needed to enable vehicle upgrades to happen without the owners incurring unacceptable costs."

The change of tack comes after the government agreed to withdraw a legal requirement for the region’s poisonously high levels of nitrogen dioxide to be reduced by 2024.

The deadline will now be 202, effectively giving Greater Manchester’s leaders greater flexibility in how they can meet the target.

Exactly how that can be done without charging the heaviest polluting vehicles is not made clear in the letter but in an accompanying statement from Greater Manchester’s nine Labour council leaders, they say: “Greater Manchester has continued to review the latest evidence and modelling with regard to levels of air pollution across the city region and we believe that if the current trajectory is maintained, and if the government provides the necessary support, we could achieve compliance by the required deadline.”

A new plan will now be published by July but the suggestion that charges may not be part of it was welcomed by businesses who had feared being wiped out by the fees.

Robert Downes, development manager with Greater Manchester's Federation of Small Businesses, said: “This is what businesses have wanted to hear for a very long time: a clear commitment to a non-charging clean air zone model; or in the event of charging scheme being imposed a demand for ‘full financial support’ from Government to help businesses upgrade their vehicles – or it doesn’t happen. This is only right and fair."