WHAT IS THE VIEW OF THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER?
“Councillor Andrew Western, GMCA Portfolio Lead for Clean Air and Chair of the Greater Manchester Air Quality Administration Committee, commented: “Air quality is one of our biggest health challenges and we are still completely committed to tackling it. But if we are to succeed in cleaning up Greater Manchester’s air, we must have a plan that is fit for purpose and fair to the people of our city-region.
comments made by the Mayor during a Q & A session where he said: “You don’t know everything, Don’t come here thinking you know everything, cos you don’t”, his urgently commissioned and paid for research showed that actually, the issues being raised were absolutely correct, as such, the plans needed to be revised.
WHY THE SUDDEN CHANGE OF HEART?
“Because of the action Greater Manchester took, we agreed a pause of the scheme with Government. We are now confident from the work we have been doing that we can secure the right plan for our residents and businesses, which cleans up our air, but doesn’t result in hardship or a single job being lost. We now need Govern- ment to work with us on this to help deliver our vision.
“It is only right that we now provide an update on the progress we have made towards developing a new Clean Air Plan to be agreed with Government. That is why I’ve written to the Environment Secretary reiterating our call for an investment-led, non-charging Clean Air Plan and I would urge our colleagues in Government to engage with us on this matter as soon as possible.”
OK, so the people stood up to you, and would not stop. The RETHINK group grew in strength and numbers and the different approaches they were taking. MPs got involved, the press was getting involved, and this was simply not going away in the manner in which you hoped. As a result, government called you in to answer for your plan, and to tell you it was not acceptable and gave you until the 1st of July to come back with a new plan.
Government also extended the deadline for clean air compliance to 2026, thus providing more time to show that actually the air is cleaner anyway which would mean there is no requirement to implement a charging scheme.
JUNE 2022
“We are acutely aware of the devastating ongoing financial impact of the cost-of-living crisis, and that’s why we believe an investment-led non-charging Clean Air Plan is the way forward. But I would like to stress that no decision has yet been taken on a new plan in Greater Manchester and that a new scheme would have to be agreed with Government.”
Oh, so this change is only due to the most recent of events? And nothing to do with the effects the charging zones would have had on every single business and leisure vehicle, nothing to do with everything the people have been telling you for many years? Ok, got it.
“To that end, we want to build on the constructive talks held with Government in January and progress with a plan that is right for Greater Manchester. Time is of the essence if we are to develop this plan with residents and businesses in our city-region, so we are therefore urging the Environ- ment Secretary and his Government colleagues to engage with us on this matter as soon as possible.”
Correct Andrew, time is of the essence, since you’ve only been given until the 1st of July to submit a final plan. And as the mayor clearly stated, several times, that there would absolutely be public engagement to develop the new plans, which we haven’t seen any sign of yet, time is running out.
So when will the public consultation on the new plan commence? Or have you forgotten about that part?
A unified voice has an impact, so well done and thank you to all those who have been involved in this campaign, now we wait to see what the new plans actually mean. Are the charges actually gone?
Or is this just another hype and spin to try to encourage the people to calm down?
Article by Dave Lawrie, Director NPHTA 0161 280 2800
info@nphta.co.uk
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