Leeds City Council’s decision to shelf plans for a clean air zone (CAZ) in October 2020 was due to concerns over a legal challenge, according to reports in the Yorkshire Post.
A Freedom of Information request sent to the local authority has highlighted that the £29m CAZ in Leeds was scrapped after the council warned it had “no legal authority” to go ahead with the initiative.
As previously reported by CiTTi, the council suspended plans for a CAZ due to a reduction in air pollution levels following the coronavirus pandemic and a switch of more than 90% of buses and 80% of heavy goods vehicles to cleaner Euro VI engines.
However, emails between the council and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reveal there had been concern about the legal authority of such a scheme.
A council official wrote: “If we were to continue to implement a CAZ having already achieved compliance and having evidence to show that compliance will be maintained, this exposes the council to legal challenge as the legal duty has now been met.
“Having received advice from counsel, we believe we have no legal authority to proceed with the CAZ.
“The city’s fleet has improved far faster than anticipated. This has been in part due to the anticipation of a CAZ being implemented and also as a result of the Clean Air Funding which the government has made available.”
Read more: Greater Manchester CAZ launch paused
