CAZ CRISIS
A united trade is a powerful voice; the trade, the regions, and the people are coming together with members of regional #rethinkgroups combining their efforts and standing together - MPs are even supporting the campaigns now. We must remember as is quoted here, the instruction was to “create a plan;” it was not to introduce a charging zone to enter each region in the UK. The country, the economy, the “bounce back” from Covid simply cannot sustain such plans. Right now, the protests are about the charging zones, NOT the plan to clean up the air, but we also must remember the issue of driver safety, which is supported by NPHTA, GMB, IWGB, the newly formed SPHA and various other trade bodies.
‘IT’S A COMPLETE CON!’: MORE THAN 100 TAXIS AND PHVs STAGE CAZ PROTESTS ACROSS GREATER MANCHESTER
Nearly 150 taxis and PHVs across Manchester, Bury and Salford staged a two-pronged protest on Thursday 3 February, against the introduction of CAZ charges. Drivers fear the new regulations in the 500 square mile CAZ will force many of them off the road because of the increased cost of buying compliant vehicles. Some 100 cabbies assembled at the Etihad Stadium, including MP James Daly, who joined the drivers from Bury, as they aimed to send a clear message to Andy Burnham. And around 50 drivers made the trip from Salford, taking an hour to weave their way to Media City, where horns were blared. Meanwhile, under-fire Andy Burnham addressed the issue on BBC Radio Manchester and explained that the zone will only last until the region’s air pollution falls within limits set by law. However, MP James Daly said: “CAZs are a tax on jobs, businesses and the scale and scope of the scheme itself is just preposterous. “Bury is well below the national aver- age in terms of pollution by all metrics, so it is completely compliant with any regulations, so to slap these on top of other charges and taxes is ridiculous. “Andy Burnham is now asking the Government for new directions on what he should be doing with regard to the charges, thereby abdicating his responsibilities as mayor.” David Lawrie, Director of the NPHTA, was leading the protest from the Etihad. He said: “It’s not just taxi services and small businesses, but every single person in Greater Manchester will have higher costs if this goes ahead. These charges must be scrapped.
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“There’s a lot of mistruths and clever terminology being used here. The gov- ernment directed the council to introduce a CAZ, but they did not say to introduce a directive that it had to be a charging zone. Nor did they stipu- late how large that zone had to be. That’s all down to the local council’s plan submited for government approval. “Andy Burnham is right that govern- ment approval must be sought for any modifications.
“Is it true that all ten regions were instructed? No. He is the mayor of Greater Manchester, that’s the connec- tion. The only actual zones that were identified as being dirty zones were Wigan and Ashton, not all ten.” Mr Lawrie added that Leeds City Council has had exactly the same gov- ernment directive and that like Manchester, Leeds had two hotspots. They introduced diversions that cleaned up the air, so there was no charging. He said: “Why can’t Greater Manchester do the same thing? Devise another plan that does not charge the public.” Neil, a black cab driver, said: “It’s a complete con. The way I’m looking at it, they’re penalising the easiest targets. I work in the centre of Manchester, I can’t avoid it. I will be paying it, but the annoying thing is I could have a Hum- mer and drive it around all day waving at people and not pay a penny. I’m struggling to earn a living because of the pandemic, but I’m going to be penalised.” The day before the protest, Boris Johnson was asked about the scheme in the House of Commons. MP for Leigh, James Grundy, told PMQ’s that the proposal would put a ‘job-destroy-
ing tax’ on ‘ordinary workers’ and asked if the PM would ‘intervene’ in the plans to prevent Mayor Burnham from inflicting this disastrous Labour scheme on Greater Manchester? Mr Grundy said: “The model proposed by Mayor Burnham is unworkable and economically devastating with its charges for taxis, vans, even buses.” Mr Johnson responded: “It’s become clear that the scheme proposed by the Labour mayor is completely unwork- able and would do more damage to businesses and residents in Manch- ester. We must find an alternative that doesn’t punish local residents.” He added: “The Secretary of State for the Environment will be saying more about this in the coming days.” Consequently, on Friday 4 February, the Government issued a Press Release in which it granted permission to GM Authorities to delay the implementa- tion of their CAZ. It stated: “Since GM’s proposals were submitted in 2019 there have been challenges, including the impact of Covid-19 on supply chains and the price and availability of second-hand vehicles which make it harder to upgrade to cleaner vehicles, meaning the CAZ is unlikely to deliver compliance by 2024. “This has led the GM Mayor to request more time to achieve NO2
compliance
and enable GM local authorities to review their NO2
plan.
“The Environment Secretary agreed to allow a short delay to the implementa- tion of the CAZ to allow GM to provide further evidence and a revised plan by July setting out how it will deliver legal levels of NO2
as soon as possible, and no later than 2026.” MARCH 2022
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