No road repairs from clean air zone cash, say council

Councillors voted unanimously on a motion put forward by the Liberal Democrats

The income raised from the clean air zone (CAZ) in Bristol should not be spent on regular roadworks, councillors say.

Bristol City Council were planning on spending £2m of the money on repairing roads next year.

On 12 December a motion proposed by the Liberal Democrats to spend the funds on projects to create a greener city was unanimously approved.

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Brown said: "Spending the funds on business-as-usual transport measures goes against the spirit of the CAZ, as it’s not primarily a revenue-generating measure.

Official figures from the CAZ will be released for the first time next month

"These funds should be treated by the council as a windfall and used to accelerate progress to a greener and cleaner city."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Labour believes there is a blur between new and existing projects.

Labour Councillor Don Alexander said "new projects upgrade existing infrastructure" and maintenance projects "rarely place like-for-like but bring in the latest technology".

Recent budget proposals have shown that £6.3m will be given to the West of England combined authority to spend on bus routes, a third of which will be used for updating footpaths and lighting.

Next month it is likely the official figures from CAZ charges and the data covering air pollution will be published.

The scheme was launched in November last year, but the data is not yet available to the public.

Green councillor Ed Plowden said: "The lack of data means we haven’t been able to provide any reassurance to anxious residents worried about traffic displaced onto their residential streets."

Councillors now hope to use the funds for sustainable projects which will encourage more people to walk or take public transport.