Page 1 of 1

New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 8:12 am
by fusionframer
I live near Bath who have just introduced a clean air zone. I know cities like Birmingham and London (and probably others) already have one and each city has different rules.

In Bath, we have to pay £9 per day if your petrol car is less than euro 4 or a euro 6 if diesel. Euro 6 diesels are about 2016/17 onwards and my pick up is 2009, so it meant i would have to pay the charge.

I was told by a friend (otherwise i wouldn't have known which i why i am posting this) that small businesses could apply to get up to a £4500 grant towards a newer vehicle that was euro 6. I applied and had a tracker fitted for 60 days to see if i went into the clean air zone more than twice a week.

I averaged 3 days a week and have been given the grant. They also offer 0% interest to finance the rest if needed.

I thought i would share this as more and more towns and cities are introducing clean air zones (Bristol later this year) and other councils may offer grants to businesses to upgrade vehicles so worth checking if it applies to you.

Nick

Re: New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 11:03 am
by Not your average framer
Hi Nick,

Is this restriction inteded for vehicles used for businesses, or is it for private cars as well? I am tending to think that this is very heavy handed at £9 per day, as some small self employed one man businesses are not necessarily going to be capable of finding the money required to pay this. I presume that this will kill the second hand, or trade in values of other diesel vehicles although they may be within the usual intended life that was reasonable expected at the time of purchase.

Re: New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 11:52 am
by fusionframer
Mark,

It is aimed at commercial vehicles, not private vehicles. It particularly hits small businesses, taxis have to pay it, and all tradespeople are getting charged.

It is bizarre. As an example, a guy who serviced my bandsaw had to pay £9 to bring his 15 plate van, but he could have driven his 2000 Mitsubishi Shogun 3.0 turbo diesel through with no charge, so it will not reduce emissions but a money making scheme that I particularly hits small businesses.

Different towns and cities have different criteria to Bath, but i wouldn't have known about a grant if i had not been told, so thought it's worth mentioning so if any others are hit with this, it is worth contacting the council to see if there is any grants for small businesses. They certainly didn't advertise this one much.

Nick

Re: New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 1:00 pm
by Not your average framer
Sounds like the lunatic fringe to me! What's it going to do to the bath economy? Some small employer will possibly need to get rid of a member of staff to find the money. So perhaps less employment. How does that help the people of bath?

Re: New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 3:11 pm
by GeoSpectrum
How does that help the people of Bath?
Clean air?

Re: New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 3:32 pm
by Justintime
I was a self employed trade for many years.
Speaking as a card carrying member of the lunatic fringe left tree hugging eco warrior vegan halloumi party, I'm sorry Mark but that is utterly ridiculous, if a sole trader can't afford a £9 daily charge to work in a city, then their business is not viable!!
:lol: :lol: :lol: :roll:

Re: New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 3:54 pm
by Not your average framer
I know sole traders who are struggling to survive, pay their bills and feed their families! Ever heard of the straw that breaks the camals back?

Re: New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 7:01 pm
by Not your average framer
Do people who live in bath have to pay this amount of £9 pounds every day, wether they use the vehicle, or not? Do visitors who want to come into Bath for just one day, just pay the £9 just for that one day? I'm not sure if I understand how this works!

Re: New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 8:54 pm
by fusionframer
GeoSpectrum wrote: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 3:11 pm Clean air?
You would think, and i am all for that, but given that all the private gas guzzling vehicles can go in with no charge, i don't think there will be any noticeable improvement. Also, although i qualified for a grant, i am required to replace my truck with another diesel. It states you cannot use it to put towards any electric vehicle which you would have thought they would want to promote if it were possible. A lot of people who often travel through the centre of Bath, are taking much longer routes to avoid the £9 charge and so are burning more fuel and causing congestion on roads not suitable for more traffic.

I travelled on average into the clean air zone 3 times a week, so that works out to £114 per month. Whilst i agree that most tradespeople won't go out of business, this does also affect small shops and market traders and plenty of other small businesses who may be struggling and had a tough time due to covid.

You pay £9 each day you enter the clean air zone. If your vehicle does not meet the criteria, someone driving a commercial vehicle from anywhere who passes through the zone will need to pay the charge. There are cameras with number plate recognition.

My reason for posting was more to let anyone in an area considering clean air zones to keep an eye out for grants to help them. I do quite like halloumi too btw, but am not too keen on hugging trees.

Nick

Re: New City clean air zones

Posted: Thu 03 Jun, 2021 9:58 pm
by Not your average framer
I'm very much in favour of being environmentally sensible, but should not this be introduced in sensible stages to give people a chance to adjust to the new situation. Not even telling people that this has happened is crazy!