Clean Air Zone plans in Greater Manchester delayed

Greater Manchester has been granted a ‘short delay’ to provide further evidence and a revised plan by July 2022 on how it will deliver legal levels of NO2 ‘as soon as possible and no later than 2026’

Authorities in Greater Manchester have been granted permission by the UK Government to delay the implementation of the Clean Air Zone.

According to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), since their 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.

These impacts are believed to make it harder for people to upgrade to cleaner vehicles, which means the Clean Air Zone is unlikely to deliver compliance with legal limits by 2024.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, therefore, requested more time to achieve NO2 compliance and enable local authorities to review their plan.

Defra said: “The government has carefully considered the mayor’s proposal and following meetings last week and further discussions today, the Environment Secretary has agreed to allow a short delay to the implementation of the Clean Air Zone.

“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 as soon as possible and no later than 2026.”

It believes it is important for Greater Manchester to “get this right” considering the scale of the proposed Clean Air Zone is nearly three times the size of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone.

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