West Leeds residents and commuters can now have their say on plans to improve air quality and introduce a ‘clean air zone’ in a bid to reduce pollution across the city.
The clean air zone would charge buses, HGVs, taxis and private hire vehicles that fail to meet the latest emissions standards for entering.
The proposed zone would cover all roads within the outer ring road with the M1 and M62 as the south-eastern boundary but would not include vehicles that divert around the outer ring road, motorways, or vehicles which cross the city using the M621.
The consultation comes after the government instructed the council to outline plans to tackle air pollution in the city after identifying Leeds as being likely to fail legal air quality levels by 2020.
Councillor Lucinda Yeadon (Lab, Kirkstall), Leeds City Council executive board member with responsibility for sustainability and the environment, said:
“Reducing air pollution in Leeds is vitally important for the health of our city and something that we have to tackle now.
“The comments we receive as part of this consultation will help us provide a rounded proposal to submit to government later this year and ensure we are asking for support in the right areas, making sure we have the right funding to deliver the best possible proposal for Leeds.”
The consultation is open until March 2 and can be found here.