Bradford clean air zone generates almost £2m in three months

Bradford's clean air zone (CAZ) has generated £1.85m in charges and fines since it launched on 26 September.

Bradford Council said the money would be ringfenced for projects to reduce harmful emissions and £182,492 of the pot would be paid to government.

The charge applies to taxis, lorries and vans that do not meet emission standards, but drivers of private cars and motorbikes do not need to pay.

Local business owners said they had mixed feelings about the CAZ.

The zone covers an area within the city's inner ring road and the Shipley to Bradford corridor.

Drivers of taxis, minibuses, lorries, coaches and buses that do not meet low emission standards are charged a daily fee of between £7 and £50 to enter the CAZ.

In the 12 weeks since it was launched, the council received £943,443 in charges from drivers.

It also received £909,209 in payments from penalty charge notices, where drivers should have paid to enter the CAZ but did not.

Drivers can be fined up to £120 plus the CAZ fee if they do not pay the charge and there were 29,020 fixed penalty notices issued in the first 12 weeks.

Keith Wildman, who owns the Record Cafe in Bradford, said he had increased the cost of a pint of some beers by 20p because breweries were adding the CAZ charge to their delivery fees.

He said he was not against work to improve air quality but that the timing of the CAZ was "not good at all" for small business owners who faced a range of cost increases.

He also said visitors were "concerned they are going to get fined" for travelling into the city and information and signs about the CAZ should be clearer.

"Customers are travelling into the area and before they even get here this is almost a barrier saying don't come here," he said.

"I see the signs and I can't tell where it starts and where it ends or how to pay. The whole thing seems unclear."

Businessman, and Conservative councillor for Worth Valley, Chris Herd said: "Businesses are already stretched and pushed to the limits with Brexit, Covid and also in a recession.

"I do feel we could have held back with [adding] extra costs to everybody, especially businesses."

He said that "everybody does need to have clean air" but called for the council to find a "balance and be realistic".

A council spokesperson said the government took £2 for each CAZ charge and the rest of the money would be used to improve air quality as it was not allowed to use the cash for normal council services.

They said: "The Bradford CAZ will improve health in the city and the largest reductions in pollution will be at schools, where children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution.

"The CAZ is expected to reduce nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by 35% and carbon dioxide (CO2) by 147,000 tonnes (147m kg).

"Up to one third of childhood asthma cases in the city are caused by traffic pollution - the CAZ will help address this."

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