Bristol clean air plan 'protects shoppers but not sick'

Cabot Circus car park is close to the end of the M32, which links the city to the nearby M4 and M5 motorways

Changes to plans for Bristol's Clean Air Zone have been criticised for allowing access to a shopping centre car park but not a major hospital.

The city council has been told to reduce air pollution in the city by lowering NO2 as quickly as possible.

Last year it proposed an inner-city ban on private diesel vehicles that would operate between 07:00 and 15:00.

But following feedback the plan was altered to allow diesel cars to access Cabot Circus car park from the M32.

The city's elected mayor, Marvin Rees, also announced changes around the Cumberland Basin area allowing diesel cars to travel between the A370 and the A4 north of the river.

And a proposed weight restriction on HGVs in Marlborough Street and Upper Maudlin Street has been scrapped.

Marlborough Street is the most polluted road in Bristol and runs past the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI). It remains in the diesel car ban zone

The council's overview and scrutiny committee praised the authority for listening to feedback, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

But some challenged them over the exemption for Cabot Circus while leaving the BRI and Bristol Royal Children's Hospital affected by the diesel ban.

A public consultation last year looked at a clean air zone and a diesel ban for Bristol

Conservative councillor Claire Hiscott said: "It just seems a little unfair that perhaps you'll completely protect the shopper but you won't necessarily completely protect the patient or the sick person in the city."

Green councillor Paula O'Rourke said the Cabot Circus "kink" sent a "very negative" message in the midst of a climate emergency.

In response, Mr Rees said Cabot Circus was a "major employer" and that the city was "walking a tightrope" to meet its responsibility to deliver clean air while taking care of its economy".

The council is supposed to submit its final clean air plans to the government next month.