Sheffield city centre Clean Air Zone approved

All of Sheffield city centre would come under the Clean Air Zone

Drivers of the most polluting vehicles will be charged to enter Sheffield city centre after the council agreed to introduce a Clean Air Zone (CAZ).

From late 2022, some buses and HGVs will be charged £50 per day to drive within the inner ring road, with some taxis being charged £10.

Private cars and electric or greener vehicles will be exempt.

The move will encourage drivers to choose and upgrade to cleaner vehicles, Sheffield City Council said.

Councillors approved the plans at a meeting on Tuesday.

Drivers would be charged to enter the Clean Air Zone, which starts on the Sheffield Parkway and goes around the city

The city has been in breach of the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide levels since January 2010, the authority said.

In order to bring the emissions down, a CAZ was seen as the best solution to improve air quality and reduce pollution-related deaths, it added.

Councillor Douglas Johnson, executive member for climate change, environment and transport, said the scheme was a "really important" move to clean up the air.

He added: "It's a step forward towards a much cleaner city, a much greener city and a city that people want to live in and you can live in because it's going to be healthier with more to do for the future."

Leader of the council Terry Fox described the decision as "historic", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The CAZ will be enforced using automatic number plate recognition cameras.

Who will be charged from late 2022?

Charges will apply to drivers of vehicles which do not meet these emission standards:

• Taxis (Hackney Carriages and Private Hire) which are Euro 6 Diesel or Euro 4 Petrol

• LGVs (vans, campervans and pickup trucks) and Minibuses which Euro 6 Diesel or Euro 4 Petrol

• Buses and coaches with Euro 6 Diesel

• HGVs with Euro 6 Diesel

Source: Sheffield City Council

The city was given £30m of government funds for the scheme, £24m of which will go towards supporting drivers to upgrade.

A public consultation is to be opened on the final plans of the CAZ, the council added.

The cities of Bath and Birmingham have already introduced CAZs, with Portsmouth due to start charging from 29 November.

However, Leeds last year scrapped plans for a CAZ, saying it was no longer required.