Work is under way for Greater Manchester’s clean air zone (CAZ) launch on 30 May 2022, with the city-region’s first automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras now installed, and a multimillion-pound financial support scheme due to launch in November.
All 10 Greater Manchester local authorities have approved the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan, which includes a UK government directed Category C charging CAZ. Greater Manchester has secured more than £120m in government funding to help local businesses, people and organisations to upgrade to cleaner vehicles, so they can travel in the CAZ without incurring a daily charge.
The CAZ is regarded as a key component in helping to tackle air pollution in Greater Manchester, which reportedly contributes to at least 1,200 deaths per year in the city-region. The CAZ is one of several being introduced in the UK to tackle nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution on local roads, with CAZs now live in Bath and Birmingham.
The first ANPR camera was installed on Vernon Street in Bolton in August, with around 850 more to follow to enforce any non-payment of daily charges. Some 2,000 CAZ signs are also being introduced on the highways network across the city-region.
The Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan accredited dealership scheme is now open for vehicle dealers to join, to help roll out around £120m in funding support when clean vehicle funds open for applications from November this year.
Contracts have been signed with Egis Projects, McCann & Co, AECOM and QV Systems to build and operate the CAZ, expand the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan NO2 monitoring network and the technology underpinning the Clean Air Plan financial support scheme.
All 10 Greater Manchester councils are under direction from government to introduce the Category C charging CAZ to secure compliance with NO2 legal limits on local roads in the shortest possible time, and by 2024 at the latest. Affected vehicles include light goods vehicles and vans, heavy goods vehicles, buses, coaches, motorhomes, hackney cabs, private hire vehicles and minibuses, but not private cars.
Greater Manchester lead for clean air, councillor Andrew Western, said: “We’re working hard to ensure we support affected vehicle owners move to cleaner vehicles so they don’t have to pay a daily charge. While the CAZ launches in May 2022, there will be local exemptions in place to give businesses and organisations more time to apply for funding.
“Our goal is to reduce harmful emissions. We want to help as many people and businesses as possible to be driving cleaner vehicles so we can all breathe cleaner air.”
A public consultation on the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan proposals took place in 2020. It identified two issues that were raised in the feedback to the original consultation that now require a further consultation so that the 10 local authorities can decide if they are to be included in the final plan. A six-week consultation will take place from today (01 September) to 13 October on two proposed inclusions to the CAZ:
- Including sections of the A575 and A580 at Worsley in the charging scheme.
- Including M1/ M1 SP vehicles with a body type of ‘motorcaravan’ within the charging scheme.
Feedback from the 2020 consultation identified that due to DVLA vehicle categories, some motorhomes would be charged to drive within the CAZ and some wouldn’t. According to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), the proposed inclusion of M1 / M1 Special Purpose with a body type of ‘motorcaravan’ within the charging scheme would ensure that all vehicles with a motorcaravan type body, which may look similar and have similar levels of emissions, will be treated equally.
The proposal to include the A575 and A580 at Worsley in the CAZ is said to be a minor modification. The roads were only previously excluded due to issues with signage in the area, which have now been resolved, said TfGM.
