The Sheffield Council begins plans to decommission the Clean Air Zone after implementation one year ago.
The controversial clean air zone turned one year old last Tuesday and Sheffield Council has declared their plans to begin decommissioning once air quality improves substantially.
Councillor Ben Miskell stated on Tuesday morning that the authority has now begun setting aside funding for the decommissioning and dismantling of cameras which has raised £7 million in its first year.
In response to questions raised regarding the controversial CAZ, Councillor Miskell said: “We don’t have to have the clean air zone if our air quality improves substantially”.
Sheffield and Liverpool delayed the implementation of their CAZ zones after the Covid lockdowns in 2021, yet were inspired to continue plans after evidence of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) reduced NO2 emissions by 44%.
Despite evidence of effectiveness, the announcement of the CAZ was faced with backlash from Sheffield residents who owned older diesel vehicles.
The Council believed the deployment of a CAZ was the most effective and quickest method to improve air quality and general health in the city.
Councillor Miskell mentioned that the air quality data for the city will be released later in the summer. This will help evaluate the effectiveness of the CAZ and inform future spending.
The CAZ deploys charges against Vans, LGVs and taxis at a rate of £10 per day whilst buses and HGVs receive a charge of £50 per day.
These charges, introduced in February 2023, aimed to discourage the use of high pollution omitting vehicles in Sheffield and hoped to promote residents to upgrade their vehicles to more sustainable options.
Estimations made by Sheffield Council outlined that approximately 250-500 deaths are attributed to the air pollution in the city every year.
The growing worry surrounding air quality in Sheffield further explains the Council’s decision to set aside £1 million of the income raised to further improve air quality surrounding school areas in the city.
The CAZ aims to reduce the pollution exposure for residents living near main roads which equates to smoking approximately 10 cigarettes a day.
