Photo: Tim Jokl (Flickr)

Liverpool City Council drops plan for clean air zone

02 August 2022

by Christopher Carey

Plans to introduce a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in Liverpool have been rejected by the city council over fears it would be too expensive for drivers.

Councillors said the the proposed scheme – which would have seen drivers of polluting vehicles charged a fee each time they entered the city centre – was not as effective as first thought, and that other measures including altering the use of traffic lights to ease congestion and penalising drivers who leave their engines idling while stationary could also reduce pollution.

The move has been criticised by charities and air quality campaigners.

“Liverpool City Council’s U-turn on introducing a charging CAZ shows a disappointing lack of ambition to tackle the air pollution that will still put the lives and lungs of the city’s half a million residents at risk,” Tim Dexter, Campaigns Manager, Air Quality, at Asthma + Lung UK said in a statement.

“How many children will develop asthma, be admitted to hospital fighting for breath or even die because of this decision?

“More than 140,000 people in Liverpool have life-threatening lung conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that are worsened by air pollution.

“Far from leading the way on delivering clean air as Liverpool City Council previously pledged, this latest decision falls short in addressing the danger posed by dirty air and the massive health inequalities that Liverpool faces.“

Responding to the criticism, the council defended their position.

“There are many misconceptions about a CAZ being a quick fix for air quality issues,” a Liverpool City Council spokesperson told Cities Today.

“This has not been the case for Liverpool, and we have assessed a range of types and sizes of CAZ that were all unsuccessful in bringing compliance in ‘the shortest possible time’.

“It has been shown that the quickest way to remove exceedances in Liverpool is per the basis of the Clean Air Plan produced for the city.”

Clean Air Plan

While rejecting a CAZ, the city has formulated a Clean Air Plan, which includes plans to use traffic lights to stop traffic queueing, reviewing bus stop locations and enforcing engine idling for buses to reduce emissions in key places.

The plan will be sent to the government next month with a full business case being submitted in January 2023.

If it is accepted, the measures will take effect from 2023.

The council has also cited the recent experience of Greater Manchester’s plans to introduce a CAZ as a reason not to proceed with a charging zone, saying “the effectiveness of a CAZ could be significantly impacted by fleet upgrade delays and affordability issues for residents and businesses – which have all been worsened by the current economic climate”.

“Air Quality is a really important issue for us, and one we all take seriously – as it makes Liverpool a better place to live, work, do business and spend our leisure time,” said Cllr Daniel Barrington, Liverpool’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment.

“It’s vital that we see improvements to air quality, and I want us to do this in the quickest way possible – keeping us on track for making Liverpool a Net Zero Carbon city by 2030.”

Image: Tim Jokl (Flickr)

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