...CAZ CRISIS...CAZ CRISIS..


NEWCASTLE’S CLEAN AIR ZONE MAKES NO SENSE SAY CABBIES HIT BY NEW SCHEME


Some cabbies say the Clean Air Zone in Newcastle “makes no sense”. It has been brought in after local councils were ordered by the Government to reduce illegal air pollution levels and the authorities said they could find no other way to cut emissions as quickly.


The plans have been in the works for years, but suffered a number of delays caused by Covid, a High Court legal battle, and concerns about the impact of the heavy tolls on people and businesses already enduring a cost of living crisis. Non-compliant lorries, buses and coaches will be hit with £50-a-day tolls, while the worst polluting vans and taxis will be charged £12.50 per day under the CAZ. Newcastle and Gateshead councils say that, as a general rule, the following vehicles should meet the minimum standard and, therefore, be exempt from tolls: • Taxis – diesels registered after Sep 2015, petrol cars registered after 2005;


• Vans – diesels registered after Sep 2016, petrol after Jan 2006;


• HGVs, buses and coaches registered after 2014. Check if your vehicle is compliant or not by


entering your


registration number at gov.uk/clean-air-zones. Payments can be made online via the Government website, via an online contact form, or by calling a hotline on 0300 029 888, Mon- Fri 8am to 7pm and Sat 8am to 2pm. Taxi and PHV owners licensed by


54


purpose of its use is irrelevant.” The council, which has denied the daily charges are a tax-raising scheme, said financial support was available for affected drivers and business owners. A Newcastle taxi driver for 11 years, Graeme Close branded the scheme “a mess”, saying he had not yet heard about a grant application he submitted


Newcastle, Gateshead or North Tyneside councils can also apply for a seven-day permit at a cost of £50,


instead of the standard


charge of £12.50 per day. One driver who sold his taxi questioned how it could be driven for free in the CAZ zone by its new private owner. Neil Atkinson, who has been a taxi driver for three years, said he has now replaced his old car with an electric one. “The car I’ve just had to sell, which is now privately owned, can be driven in the city for free. It makes no sense,” he said. “The idea is to make the air clean, but it’s the same car I would’ve had to pay for as a taxi driver.” David Lawrie, director of the National Private Hire and Taxi Association, said the rules would also see taxi drivers having to pay the charge when they were not working, if they


used their


licensed vehicle to travel into the city centre. Mr Lawrie said: “The fact remains it’s a licensed vehicle and the


in November. “The car I’m driving at the moment is two months too old to drive into the city centre without getting charged so I have to replace it with a new vehicle,” he said. “I’d have to get finance and I don’t want to tie myself to a £300 to £400 monthly loan payment, and to buy a compliant car I’m looking at having to spend between £12,000 - £15,000 and I haven’t got that.”


Both Newcastle and Gateshead councils said grant applications were “being processed as quickly as possible” and anyone who had submitted one and had not received a response, or was upgrading their vehicle through the grants process, would be given a “temporary 120-day exemption from any CAZ charges”.


The authorities said 1,300 applications for financial support to


upgrade or replace older


vehicles had been submitted so far.


FEBRUARY 2023 PHTM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80