'Teething problems' admitted as Sheffield Clean Air Zone starts operating from today

Sheffield is following Bradford in introducing a Clean Air Zone in a bid to cut illegally-high levels of air pollution in a city where an estimated 500 people per year are dying early because of the problem.

The Sheffield scheme does not include private cars but the most polluting buses, coaches and lorries will be charged £50 per day, with vans and taxis paying £10 per day.

But the Sheffield CAZ has caused controversy, with the scheme plagued by delays to the processing of grants aimed at supporting drivers to upgrade to cleaner vehicles. Many affected by the charges say they fear the extra costs will force them out of business.

Councillor Mazher Iqbal, co-chair of the transport committee, said: “We have had some teething problems due to the number of applications that have come in. We have increased our staff to meet that demand. I am also meeting with officers on a weekly basis to look at how we are performing, who is getting in touch, who is getting the support, what are the issues we are picking up and how can we address those.”

Previous analysis showed around 17,500 drivers would need a grant to upgrade to cleaner vehicles but Government has provided funding for only 2,500.

Coun Iqbal said: “We don’t have a limitless amount of cash. It’s very important that those who are eligible apply for the support that is available. We are monitoring this on a weekly basis and we are in regular discussion with government.

“I have been raising with government for the past 18 months that because of Brexit, Covid and the cost of living crisis prices are rocketing and we need to financially support those businesses that want to make that transition.”

The Government told Sheffield to implement the CAZ to bring air pollution back down to legal levels.

Will Stewart, director of investment, climate change and planning at the council, said the authority expected the CAZ to bring the city within legal limits by the end of this year but it will not know for sure until early 2024, after all data has been collected and submitted to government.

Coun Iqbal said he has a personal interest in tackling air quality issues in Sheffield. He said he and his sister suffer from asthma which he attributes to growing up in Tinsley next to traffic on the M1.

He said: “For us it’s important to try to reduce pollution so we are not exceeding legal limits, people can live a healthier lifestyle and we have cleaner vehicles on our roads.

“Hopefully in a few years time in the city centre, Arundel Gate and outside the train station, we will have cleaner air.”

Bradford’s Clean Air Zone came into force in September last year, with polluting lorries, coaches and buses charged £50, minibuses and light good vehicles £9 and taxis £7.

Earlier this month, Bradford Council said analysis of sites outside the CAZ had shown no significant increase in the percentage of commercial traffic on roads outside the zone – an issue that had been raised as a concern ahead of its launch.

Coun Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council's Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: "We are monitoring and measuring displacement of chargeable vehicles to ensure that increased traffic volumes and the risk pollution is not spreading to other areas. The results of the real time video traffic monitoring reassures us that there is no significant increases in commercial traffic at the sites we measured.”

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