Sheffield clean air zone launch date confirmed

Private cars, motorbikes and mopeds will not be charged under the clean air zone rules

Sheffield's clean air zone (CAZ) will be launched on 27 February to charge polluting commercial vehicles.

Plans to start charging drivers of taxis, vans, buses, coaches and lorries that do not meet Euro 6 Diesel or Euro 4 Petrol emission standards were delayed during the pandemic.

Smaller vehicles will be charged £10 a day and larger ones will pay £50.

Councillor Julie Grocutt said the zone will "protect current and future generations in our city".

Private cars, motorbikes and mopeds will not be charged under the new CAZ plans.

The clean air zone boundary will cover Sheffield city centre

Businesses and residents can apply for a grant from Sheffield City Council to help them upgrade to cleaner vehicles from 12 December.

Hackney carriage taxis and light goods vehicles such as vans, campervans, pick-up trucks and minibuses will be temporarily exempt from the charges until 5 June 2023 as a result of the cost of living crisis, according to the council.

Ms Grocutt, co-chair of the transport regeneration and climate policy committee, said the council was legally required to introduce the CAZ but that it also supports the plans.

"We are committed to doing all we can to limit the public health implications such as permanent damage to children's lungs, strokes, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease," she said.

"We cannot ignore these damaging effects and must implement important schemes such as the CAZ for the benefit of our city."

The CAZ was first announced in 2018. It was delayed in 2020 due to Covid-19 and then a new date of 2022 was given, before the council confirmed it would not be introduced until 2023.

Which cities have clean air zones?

Bath, Bradford, Birmingham and Portsmouth already have clean air zones in place.

But there are four different types of clean air zone, which each include different types of vehicle.

In Bradford, the clean air zone includes buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, vans, minibuses. In Birmingham cars are also included in the clean air zone, meaning they also have to pay the charge if they don't meet low emissions standards.

Clean air zones are soon to be launched in Bristol, Newcastle and Gateshead. Plans for a zone in Greater Manchester are currently being reviewed.

Low emission zones are also set to be rolled out across Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen, according to Transport Scotland.

London has an ultra low emission zone in place to cover vehicles that do not meet set emission standards.

The council has launched a grant scheme to help businesses and residents buy greener vehicles