Manchester CAZ delayed

The Government granted permission to Greater Manchester Authorities to delay the implementation of their Clean Air Zone. 

Decisions around the introduction of Clean Air Zones are the responsibility of local authorities, in consultation with residents and local businesses. 

However, since Greater Manchester’s initial proposals were submitted in 2019 there have been a number of challenges, including the impact of Covid-19 on supply chains and the price and availability of second-hand vehicles. 

According to evidence provided by the combined authorities, these impacts will make it harder for people to upgrade to cleaner vehicles, meaning the CAZ is unlikely to deliver air quality compliance by the original deadline of 2024. 

This led the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham to request more time to achieve nitrogen oxide (NO2) compliance. 

The government considered the Mayor’s proposal and following meetings last week, the Environment Secretary agreed on Friday (February 4) to a short delay to the implementation of the CAZ. 

This will allow Greater Manchester to provide further evidence and a revised plan by July setting out how it will deliver legal levels of NO2. 

In making this decision, the Environment Secretary has made it clear that it is his priority to fulfil the Government’s legal obligations to deliver compliance with NO2 limits in the shortest time possible.

Tim Dexter, Campaigns Manager for Air Quality at Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, commented on this announcement: ‘We are deeply disappointed by the news of plans to delay the Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester and that legal limits for clean air now might not be met until 2026. This puts thousands of people, including those with lung conditions at risk, forced to breathe in toxic air. Air pollution is too important an issue to be used as a political football. How many children will develop asthma, be admitted to hospital struggling to breathe or even die because of this setback?

‘More than 290,000 people in Greater Manchester have lung conditions like asthma and COPD that are worsened by air pollution which can trigger life-threatening asthma attacks or COPD flare-ups. Every year 1,200 people in Greater Manchester die prematurely from toxic air. Manchester continues to have some the worst rates of lung disease and childhood asthma hospital admissions in the country.”

‘There has been a failure to address air quality standards since the illegal levels were identified in 2010 and it has already taken 5 years to get to this point, only for regional and national government to now make a U-turn. It is not good enough.”

‘As people will have to wait longer for clean air, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the government must put in even stronger measures to protect people from toxic air including stronger air quality monitoring around schools to protect growing lungs from harm. They must urgently work together to deliver a solution that puts public health before politics and ensures clean air for Greater Manchester in the shortest possible time.’