Clean Air Zone: Sheffield City Council announces £1m for first projects funded by motorists

Sheffield City Council has announced the first projects to receive income from the clean air zone a year after the scheme went live.

Some £1m could be spent closing roads to traffic, introducing 20mph zones and setting up bike sheds at schools to cut car use and air pollution. ‘Green walls’ made of plants are also proposed, including at Lowfield Primary on Queens Road, Sheffield’s most polluted primary.

The clean air zone was launched on February 27, 2023. The boundary follows the inner ring road. It charges older vans and cabs £10-a-day and buses and lorries £50. Fines start at £60. In its first eight months it raked in £3.3m.

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The proposals will be discussed at a meeting of the transport, regeneration and climate committee on Wednesday, February 14.

Chair, Councillor Ben Miskell, said improving air for children was the authority’s number one priority.

He added: "The expansion of projects like school streets, 20mph zones encouraging sustainable journeys to school, and the potential for green walls is just part of our overall commitment to reducing the levels of harmful gases in the atmosphere. 

"Drop-off and pick-up times can be particularly hazardous but with the introduction of these measures, we are already taking steps to improve air quality."

It is estimated poor air quality contributes to about 500 deaths a year in Sheffield and causes 12 per cent of childhood asthma, he added. Since the CAZ launched there have been a 64 percent drop in non-compliant vehicles compared to November 2022, he added.

There are 27 part-time 20mph zones outside schools and 13 ‘school streets’ which ban traffic twice a day.