{"id":43507,"date":"2025-11-07T12:54:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T12:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/?p=43507"},"modified":"2025-11-30T21:18:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T21:18:52","slug":"clean-air-zone-price-increase-not-the-solution-say-activists-as-council-blocks-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/2025\/11\/07\/clean-air-zone-price-increase-not-the-solution-say-activists-as-council-blocks-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean Air Zone price increase not the solution say activists, as council blocks proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Clean Air Zone campaigners have celebrated the rejection of the proposal to increase Clean Air Zone (CAZ) prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal<\/a> was rejected at a council meeting on November 6. Bristol Clean Air Zone Alliance supported the decision not to consult the public on the issue and instead urged the council to find alternative solutions to combat illegal NO2 levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Activist Christina Biggs, speaking on behalf of Bristol Clean Air Zone Alliance, said: “94% of the vehicles are compliant, and they’re going into the Clean Air Zone, and they’re not paying, so that must be where this pollution’s coming from, cars that don’t have to pay the charge but are still polluting.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She questioned the effectiveness of targeting the 6% of non-compliant vehicles in an attempt to tackle pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green councillor James Crawford echoed that thinking, saying that his compliant car was “a bit of a banger”, raising questions about the polluting effect of compliant vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, the Clean Air Zone Alliance believes the solution lies in reducing traffic in the city centre by encouraging and funding public transport, building more Park and Ride facilities, and implementing more active travel measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is a crazy city,” Ms Biggs explained. “Why the heck have we got an M32 that is injecting cars right into Bond Street? It’s just absolutely mad.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Traffic on Bond Street, where pollution levels remain above the legal limit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Policy Committee, Green councillor Martin Fodor, said the council has a legal duty to clean the air “as fast as possible” and warned that current measures were falling short. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that increasing CAZ prices was the fastest and most effective way to achieve clean-air compliance. He argued that keeping the \u00a39 daily charge frozen since 2022 has weakened its deterrent effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial modelling done by the Council suggested that increasing fees from \u00a39 to \u00a310, \u00a312, or \u00a314 a day, would discourage drivers of non-compliant vehicles from driving in the CAZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Bristol<\/a>'s CAZ is BROKEN! \ud83d\udea8 Air pollution got WORSE in the "Clean Air Zone," so the council's fix is charging you \u00a314. It's a tax scam that defies physics. Read the expos\u00e9!https:\/\/t.co\/ZLuLE5L2XW<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/mO3Ygy0rnU<\/a><\/p>— The Almighty Gob Blog (@LangleyAuthor) October 31, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>