'Clean air zone' in the north is forcing lorries and vans into suburbs

The ULEZ of the north: How Bradford’s ‘clean air zone’ is forcing the worst-polluting lorries and vans into the city suburbs so ‘drivers avoid daily charge’

• Opponents of CAZ scheme want it scrapped after its launch almost a year ago
• Local Tory MP Robbie Moore has backed residents and called scheme a ‘disaster’
• READ MORE: How the tide is turning against Clean Air Zones

Residents claim a city’s ‘clean air zone’ is forcing some of the worst-polluting lorries and vans into the suburbs and surrounding villages to avoid the daily charge.

Almost a year after the launch of the CAZ scheme in Bradford, West Yorkshire, opponents, including a local Tory MP, want the scheme scrapped.

Some residents in villages such as East Morton and Denholme and the suburb of Wibsey have spoken out to condemn the extra traffic, noise and fumes in their neighbourhoods over the last 12 months that they believe the CAZ has caused.

The Labour-run city council insist the critics’ claims are unfounded and HGVs subject to a £50-a-day fee are not diverting outside the zone to avoid payment.

Officials and councillors claim lorries using winding rural roads on the outside the charging zone are there for other reasons or are ‘compliant’ with emissions standards and not subject to the fee.

But Robbie Moore, the Tory MP for Keighley, has backed the dissenting residents. He doesn’t accept council denials and has hit out at Bradford’s version of the hated ULEZ scheme in London.

Residents in villages such as East Morton and Denholme and the suburb of Wibsey have spoken out to condemn the extra traffic, noise and fumes in their neighbourhoods over the last 12 months that they believe the CAZ has caused

Residents claim the CAZ is forcing some of the worst-polluting lorries and vans into the suburbs and surrounding villages to avoid the daily charge. Pictured: Lorries in East Morton

The Labour-run city council insist the critics’ claims are unfounded and HGVs subject to a £50-a-day fee are not diverting outside the zone to avoid payment. Pictures show lorries going through East Morton

Robbie Moore (pictured), the Tory MP for Keighley, has backed the dissenting residents on the issue

He said: ‘Labour-run Bradford Council’s Clean Air Zone tax has been nothing short of a disaster for hardworking residents and businesses in my constituency of Keighley and indeed across the entire Bradford District.’

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The charge had placed extra cost of living pressures on struggling businesses, he said. Adding: ‘To make matters worse, residents in small villages in our community like East Morton are now seeing a massive increase in traffic congestion and large HGVs passing through their village as a direct result of this policy, with drivers now taking alternative routes to avoid CAZ charges.

‘Businesses are being further impacted, as customers choose other locations to purchase their goods and services to try to avoid the CAZ tax.

‘It’s high time our labour leadership in Bradford start listening to the voices of those suffering the consequences of their CAZ tax and scrap this unfair tax once and for all.’

The charges don’t apply to private cars and motor bikes. But HGVs that don’t meet emission standards face a £50 daily fee, minibuses and vans £9 and taxis £7.

Between last September and June the Bradford scheme has raised more than £6.7 million in charges for the council.

In East Morton, near Keighley, many residents don’t accept the council explanation that the CAZ has made no difference to traffic.

John Stevens, 56, a health and safety advisor, has lived in the village for about eight years and said the problem of HGVs has been worse since last year’s launch.

Almost a year after the launch of the CAZ scheme in Bradford, West Yorkshire, opponents,  want the scheme scrapped

Pictured: The entrance to Bradford’s Clean Air Zone in Bingley, West Yorkshire

The village of East Morton (R) near Keighley where residents are fed up with HGV’s diverting through their narrow village roads to avoid using the bypass (left) and paying the CAZ charge

‘There is a big difference first thing in the morning and between 4pm and 6pm. The wagons come through here and make a lot of noise. I notice it a lot more now, I can’t believe it.’

‘The speed they go at through here is too much. People really notice the change, it has got a lot busier and the noise stands out.’

Menston is further away from the zone but retired financial planner Valerie Howe, 81, believes lorries are going through her picturesque community to avoid going along the A650 dual carriageway into Bradford.

The problem of HGVs using narrow roads is only partly down to local house building sites, she said.

‘Lorries are coming through here to avoid payment of the charge. They would normally go through Bradford.

‘Our neighbours guttering has been knocked off more times than we’ve had hot dinners. We built an extension and a lorry got stuck against the front of the building. Somebody is going to be injured pretty soon.’

On the other side of Bradford the village of Denholme is another location where more vans and lorries have been noticed by residents.

One pensioner, who asked not to be named, said: ‘They are quite big lorries. They go bang, bang, bang and everything rattles as they go down the road. The volume of traffic has increased and it must be to do with avoiding the charge.’

Gareth Gregory, 55, a TV engineer, came a creditable second when he stood as an independent candidate at last year’s local elections and criticised the charging zone’s impact on local businesses.

Gareth Gregory (pictured), 55, a TV engineer, came a creditable second when he stood as an independent candidate at last year’s local elections and criticised the charging zone’s impact on local businesses.

In East Morton (pictured), near Keighley, many residents don’t accept the council explanation that the CAZ has made no difference to traffic

 A map of the Bradford Clean Air Zone (above) which has been in place since September 2022

He said the authorities are turning a blind eye to the problem.

‘Exactly as predicted last April, massive articulated lorries, HGVs and other non-compliant vehicles are diverting through Wibsey to avoid the charges.

‘Our three councillors have been asked repeatedly about these issues over many months. Their only response has been they don’t believe it. Even when presented with testimonies and physical evidence from Wibsey residents and business owners – their silence is deafening.’

Commenting on the East Morton traffic, local Labour councillor Caroline Firth said the authority had done ‘a lot of work around this problem’ and established the issue of HGVs using local roads was not caused by displacement from the charging zone.

‘I can say it until I am blue in the face but it’s the truth,’ she said.

A Bradford Council spokesperson said; ‘We acknowledge there is a rise in HGV use in East Morton. Senior officers have spoken to the haulage firms involved and they are delivering materials from quarries to development sites locally, using East Morton as the quickest route from A to B. The fleets of these haulage firms are CAZ compliant so are not charged anything in the Clean Air Zone so they are not using East Morton to avoid the CAZ. Residents are aware of this, as officers and district councillors have kept them updated.

‘We have signage in place at each end of the village to say it is unsuitable for HGVs but it is advisory rather than a restriction. While the situation is frustrating, the law allows HGVs to use the highway and until legislation is introduced in parliament to stop HGVs using villages as cut-throughs, the council has no powers to stop it.’

Research in the Wibsey area showed a 0.79% reduction in commercial traffic after the Clean Air Zone was introduced and we will continue to monitor this, the spokesperson added.

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