Local Life - Wigan - January 2022

4
An influx of street furniture has hit the streets
of Wigan ahead of the launch of the Greater
Manchester Clean Air Zone (CAZ). As it stands
from when Local Life went to press (6/1/22), from May
this year buses, coaches, taxis, PHV’s, HGV’s and vans
over a certain age/fuel type will be charged up to £60 per
day to operate within the borders of Greater Manchester.
Before you turn the page and dismiss this as irrelevant,
allow me to make two points. One, any cost increase for
businesses is invariably passed onto customers, so GM
residents will indirectly end up paying more for some
products and services.
And two, the infrastructure of the GM CAZ has now
been installed, so changing the future parameters to,
say, include cars, would be straightforward. The new
Birmingham CAZ already charges certain car owners £8
a day with fines of up to £120, and Bristol will follow their
lead from June 2022.
The implementation of Clean Air Zones was brought
about when the government told councils to curb air
pollution levels. The decision on how to do this was left to
the discretion of individual local councils. York opted to
ban diesel buses from the city centre. Birmingham opted
to, and have since set up, a tight CAZ of approximately 5
square miles and other councils followed a similar route,
targeting city centres where pollution levels are high.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority, made up
of the ten local councils including Wigan Council, went
in a completely different direction and decided that the
whole of Greater Manchester, all 493 square miles of it,
should be within the GM CAZ.
Clean air is vital, and modelling carried out by the GMCA
in October 2018 (www.cleanairgm.com/clean-air-zonemap/)
shows that the city centre, along with Wigan,
Bolton, Bury and other main town centres in GM have
issues with air pollution.
Outside of town/city centres, it just isn’t an issue apart
from a few pollution hotspots such as Poolstock and
Pemberton, long-standing problems which are being or
have already been addressed by Wigan Council.
The words ‘sledgehammer’ and ‘nut’ spring large.
Was the decision made by the GMCA for the health
benefits, for the extra revenue or for different reasons
entirely? Whatever the case – it’s
time for a rethink.
Chris Pearce, Publisher
chrisp@locallife247.co.uk