Sheffield Clean Air Zone: Opinion divided over plans to charge polluting vehicles

Opinion is divided on Sheffield Council’s plans to charge the most polluting buses, taxis, vans and lorries to drive in the city centre.
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Just over 50 percent of people (163) who took part in a poll said they support the Clean Air Zone proposals and 49.7 percent (161) said they do not.

Sheffield Council’s co-operative executive made the historic decision to introduce a Clean Air Zone in a special meeting at the Town Hall last month.

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The charging zone will cover the inner ring road and city centre and it will be enforced using automatic number plate recognition cameras.

Buses in Sheffield city centre.Buses in Sheffield city centre.
Buses in Sheffield city centre.

Taxis and LGVs that do not meet the emission standard will be charged £10 a day and coaches, buses and HGVs will be charged £50 a day to drive in the zone from 2022.

Drivers will need to have Euro 6 diesel or Euro 4 petrol engines to avoid the charge.

Although a smaller sample size, views were also split over whether private cars and motorbikes should have been included in the plans.

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Of those who took part in that poll, 48.3 percent (29) said they should have been included and 51.7 percent (31) said they should not.

Opinion is divided on Sheffield Council’s plans to charge the most polluting buses, taxis, vans and lorries to drive in the city centre.Opinion is divided on Sheffield Council’s plans to charge the most polluting buses, taxis, vans and lorries to drive in the city centre.
Opinion is divided on Sheffield Council’s plans to charge the most polluting buses, taxis, vans and lorries to drive in the city centre.

The council decided not to charge private vehicles because they make up 80 percent of road traffic but contribute 50 percent of pollution whereas buses, HGVs and taxis are responsible for half of Sheffield’s air pollution but make up only 20 percent of traffic.

What financial support will be given to help drivers upgrade vehicles to meet the Clean Air Zone standard?

Just under £24 million was given to deliver Sheffield and Rotherham’s Clean Air Plans. Of that, £3.5 million was allocated from the implementation fund, which will be used for setting up the charging zone and road schemes, and £20.4 million from the Clean Air Fund, which will be used to help drivers upgrade.

The proposed support is:

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Up to £10,000 grants for electric/ULEV wheelchair-accessible hackney carriages.

Up to £3,000 grants for local private hire taxi drivers upgrade to electric or ultra-low emissions vehicles.

Up to £3,500 grants for local businesses to upgrade to electric or ultra-low emissions vans.

A consultation focussing on this financial support will start later this month.