UK's first clean air zone outside of London launches in Bath

Bath has today implemented the UK’s first Clean Air Zone (CAZ) as part of a drive to reduce emissions and improve air quality. The move will see the most polluting vans, buses and lorries face charges for the first time.

Bath's CAZ only affects HGVs, buses, coaches and taxis. For now, regular passenger cars are exempt from any fees.

In 2015, the UK's High Court ruled that ministers must implement stricter measures to tackle the issue of air pollution. In response, the Government ordered various major cities to establish CAZs.

CAZs are designed to cut air pollution in city centres and encourage people to drive vehicles that emit less tailpipe pollution - like EVs, hybrids, and more modern petrol and diesel cars. CAZs were due to be implemented in Birmingham, Leeds and Bath in 2020, however, these were delayed to 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Similar measures in Birmingham, Oxford, Bristol, Cambridge and more cities are considering similar initiatives. London will also expand its ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) outwards to the North Circular and South Circular roads in October.

Spanning the city centre, Bath’s zone operates in a similar way to London’s ULEZ - meaning zero-emissions vehicles can travel within the zone free of charge, but higher polluting vehicles will incur a fee. The council has introduced the clean air zone with £9.4 million of funding from the Government to help residents and businesses replace polluting vehicles with cleaner, compliant ones.

Petrol vehicles that don't conform to Euro4 emissions standards or were registered before January 2006 must pay to enter. Diesels must be compliant with Euro6 standards or have been registered after September 2015 to avoid a charge.

Drivers of HGVs, coaches and buses that don't meet these requirements will have to pay £100 to drive in and around the CAZ. This is reduced to £9 per day for non-compliant taxis, private hire vehicles, LGVs, minibuses, vans and pick-up trucks. Exceptions and discounts are offered or special vehicles like tractors and gritters, as well as for recovery and emergency service vehicles. Vehicles operating under a disabled passenger tax class are also exempt.

The zone, first proposed in 2018, will cost approximately £23 million to create and maintain. It’s policed by up to 70 autonomic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras that detect vehicles as they enter the zone and check their numbers against a database, identifying which are required to pay a charge.

Once issued, drivers must pay their fee within seven days or they will be fined £120 in addition to the original charge. If this is paid within 14 days, the fine will be reduced to £60, but if it's not paid within 28 days, it will be increased to £180.

Liberal Democrat council leader Dine Romero said: "This a landmark day for the city. We've put up with unacceptable levels of nitrogen dioxide for too long. We know this is a difficult time for businesses, but we've gone ahead with the zone during the pandemic because this is a pressing public health issue."

In May 2020, it was announced that Greater Manchester would delay its Clean Air Zone (CAZ) until 2022, a year later than originally planned. It’s set to be England’s biggest CAZ, spanning 10 local authority areas across Greater Manchester. This was due to Covid-19.

In March 2020, Leeds City Council delayed its CAZ due to the pandemic. It was set to come into effect on 28 September 2020 but has now been suspended until further notice.