With just a few weeks left until the launch of Bradford’s Clean Air Zone, many Leeds residents may be wondering if the introduction of a similar scheme can be expected in their city anytime soon.
The zones form part of a wider strategy by the UK government to help improve the air quality in towns and cities around the country, with several parts of Yorkshire due to launch Clean Air Zones later this year.
Under the plans, motorists will be charged fees, sometimes up to as much as £60 a day, to travel in the set zone boundary if their vehicle does not meet a specific low emission standard.
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In the majority of cases, this affects commercial vehicles such as lorries and HGVs, but buses and private hire taxi vehicles are also affected too, with the possibility of the scheme being extended to include regular cars (private vehicles) too - something that has already proved controversial in Birmingham, where the scheme was previously introduced to great success.
Will Leeds be getting a Clean Air Zone?
A similar scheme was previously proposed in Leeds back in 2018, with officials at Leeds City Council having planned to introduce charges of up to £50 a day for some vehicles after being told its air quality levels did not meet legal standards.
These charges would have been specifically aimed at commercial vehicles, buses and taxis in the city, with no plans ever in place for privately-owned cars to be charged under the proposals.
However, prior to the introduction of the scheme a number of businesses invested in more environmentally friendly vehicles that would cause less pollution, after being told that their existing vehicles would have required them to pay to access the city every day.
In the 24 months that followed the announcement of the proposals, so many companies actually made the switch that the air quality in Leeds improved to such a point that the charging zone was no longer required.
This meant that the scheme, which would have ultimately cost up to £40 million was scrapped.
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Leeds City Council did however send £11.5 million on the scheme prior to its introduction, with £7.5 million awarded in grants for taxi drivers to upgrade to cleaner vehicles, while the city also received a new camera network to the tune of £4 million.
As a result of the changes, it is now thought that key areas of Leeds once blighted by skyrocketing pollution such as the city centre and Headingley, may never actually exceed legal limits for air quality again thanks to the introduction of cleaner Euro VI engines, which now account for 90 per cent of buses and 80 per cent of heavy goods vehicles driven in the city.
Speaking of the decision to scrap the scheme back in 2020, Polly Cook, the council's chief officer for sustainable energy and air quality, said: "What we've actually seen is the outcome that we were hoping the CAZ would deliver.
"We have seen the switch to cleaner vehicles much faster than we had expected.
"We have achieved the CAZ objective without the CAZ actually being introduced. We've never charged the vehicles, but we have cleaner air.
"Even now, if we were to introduce the CAZ it wouldn't make a significant difference, because of the changeover of fleet that we've already experienced.”
Although there are no imminent plans in place to introduce a similar charging zone to that being introduced by fellow Yorkshire cities Bradford and Sheffield, the scheme hasn’t been completely ruled out of being revisited in the future.
The issue was most recently addressed by Leeds city councillors as part of its Connecting Leeds Transport Strategy last Autumn, where officers shared their desire to make an accessible city for those who don’t drive.
The main focus of the strategy revolved around funding to implement a mass transit system with a reliable public transport network to help keep both residents and visitors connected.
However under a heading entitled “we may need to consider”, the report mentioned: “A low carbon zone which could be similar to the ULEZ in London, where the most polluting vehicles are subject to the greatest charges based on CO2 emissions.”
No decision or commitment to introduce a new clean air zone in the immediate future has since been finalised, with the council’s efforts instead continuing to focus on providing the best solutions to tackle air pollution without residents being left out of pocket.
Councillor James Lewis, Deputy Leader for Leeds City Council and Executive Board member with responsibility for air quality said: “Thanks to our city’s collective effort, Leeds residents are breathing air that is cleaner and safer than ever before.
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“When we consulted on the CAZ in 2018, we said that we hoped that no one would be charged because businesses would switch to less polluting vehicles before the charging system takes effect. That is exactly what has happened.
“We have achieved the aims of the Clean Air Zone without having to charge a single vehicle. If Leeds were to introduce a CAZ today, only a fraction of vehicles would be affected because the vast majority of businesses are now driving cleaner vehicles than they were just a few years ago.
“While we celebrate that our air is cleaner than ever, and cleaner than some other UK cities, this council also recognises that air pollution remains the biggest environmental threat to our health.
“That’s why we’re considering voluntarily introducing even stricter targets for Leeds, aligned with WHO guidelines. We will continue working hard to protect the health of everyone in Leeds from the effects of polluted air.”
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