Charges on polluting vehicles to enter parts of Bath have been branded a “stealth tax” by a right-wing pressure group.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance claims the proposed clean air zone will harm tourism, result in higher costs for consumers and lower wages, and do little to improve air quality.

Bath and North East Somerset Council says charging non-compliant cars, taxis and vans £9 a day and levying a £100 charge on buses, coaches and lorries is necessary to improve air quality in the city.

It has been ordered by Government to bring nitrogen dioxide levels within the legal limit in the shortest possible time and by 2021 at the latest - and the guidelines say it cannot be used to generate income.

Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "This is nothing more than a stealth tax on already over-taxed residents and business owners.

“Rather than choosing to improve road infrastructure and ease congestion, B&NES Council has instead chosen a lazy and bureaucratic option.

“This is pure revenue-raising at the expense of hard-working taxpayers that will do little to improve air quality.

“B&NES Council should drop the proposal and instead work with the local community to improve air quality rather than hit them with yet another tax."

The proposed clean air zone for Bath is expected to come into force by the end of 2020
The proposed clean air zone for Bath is expected to come into force by the end of 2020

Proposals on the clean air zone are currently out to consultation and nothing has yet been decided.

B&NES Council says the scheme is not designed to make money but to improve air quality by making people change their behaviour. Any revenue raised from charges would first go towards the zone’s ongoing operating costs.

Any surplus revenue would have to be reinvested in projects that encourage cleaner transport and travel in and around Bath - it cannot be spent on anything else.

Research by the Taxpayers’ Alliance found that the effectiveness of clean air zones was “ambiguous” and said “the evidence would seem to suggest that they have no long-term impact on the rate of consumers and firms upgrading to ‘cleaner’ vehicles”.

A spokesperson for the group said: “The UK does have high levels of pollution which are damaging to the environment and can cause serious health problems and lead to premature mortality.

“However, clean air zones are not the answer.

“Charging motorists, bus/coach companies, taxi firms and HGV operators for entering Bath city centre will increase costs for citizens and businesses.

“Increasing costs for businesses reduces their profitability, and so they are forced to pass these costs on to workers and consumers.

“It would be wrong for Bath’s local authority to introduce a clean air zone. This is because they are ineffective, economically harmful and regressive.”

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The spokesperson said the Government should scrap “white elephants” like the HS2 project, a new high-speed railway, and instead spend money on improving roads.

It said Westminster should also look to other cities around the world to replicate schemes that have successfully reduced pollution.

But B&NES Council officers have determined that the proposed charges are the only way to get drivers to change their behaviour.

Environmental protection and licensing manager Cathryn Brown told a meeting this week: “There are very strict guidelines how we use the revenue. It has to be reinvested in local transport policies.

“There has been talk of income generation - it’s not. There are far easier ways of generating income.”

Motorists could be forced to pay up to £9 to drive through Bath city centre

Vehicles that will have to pay the proposed charge are:

  • Pre-Euro 6 diesel vehicles, including hybrids (older than approx. 2015)
  • Pre-Euro 4 petrol vehicles, including hybrids (older than approx. 2006)

The council suggests people visit https://www.hpi.co.uk/content/diesel-news-the-future-of-diesel/hpi-euro-emission-standards-checker/ to check the rating of their vehicles.

Charges would apply once in every 24-hour period (midnight to midnight) when entering or driving in the zone. This would apply seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Newer vehicles and fully electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will not be charged. Neither would historic, disabled or military vehicles, or motorbikes and mopeds.

A consultation on the proposed clean air zone is ongoing. Some 5,000 electronic responses have been submitted so far - a record number for the authority.

Residents have until November 25 to comment on the proposals. Cabinet members will make a decision next month.

Visit www.bathnes.gov.uk/breathe or your local library for more information.

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