Greater Manchester councils vote to send Clean Air Zone proposals back to Government, Burnham confirms

Greater Manchester councils have voted to refer the Clean Air Zone back to the government, Andy Burnham has confirmed.

The mayor took to Twitter today to announce that the controversial scheme, which would see certain vehicles be charged up to £60 a day to drive within certain areas of the region, has been referred back to the government for consultation.

Burnham wrote: “I am pleased that Greater Manchester councils have just voted to refer the Clean Air Zone back to the Government.

“GM [Greater Manchester] has tried in good faith to make the Government’s legal direction work. However, changes in the vehicle market mean it is impossible to proceed on the current basis without causing real hardship to some of our residents.

“We remain committed to tackling illegal levels of air pollution in GM as soon as possible. This decision opens up the space for urgent, joint discussions with the Government about potential changes to make the scheme fair for everyone.”

Burnham concluded by stressing that he is ‘listening to people’s concerns’ and will ‘always stand up for Greater Manchester’. 

He explained: “I am not the final decision-maker but will do everything I can, working with Government, to get this to the right place. I know it’s difficult but bear with us and I will keep you posted on progress.”

Since its announcement last year, the proposed Clean Air Zone for Greater Manchester has been met with overwhelming backlash, with many saying it will leave small and independent businesses bankrupt.

The scheme, set to come into place from May 30th 2022, will charge vehicles that do not meet emissions standards between £7 and £60 when driving within the zone, which will cover 493 square miles of Greater Manchester, making it the largest of its kind in the UK.

Last week, Bolton council leader Martyn Cox told the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) that the plans had been put on hold ‘for now’, citing ‘valid concerns’ about the supply chains for new vehicles and issues with ‘retrofitting’ to make them clean-air compliant. 

Councillor Cox told the Bury Times: “The implementation of the Clean Air Zone has been paused for lighter goods vehicles and taxis, with the exception of heavy good vehicles, buses and out of town taxis.

“We are happy with that they have taken this action but would have like it to have gone further and for the Secretary of State to pause it… The Combined Authority want to now sit down with the government to discuss the issues.”