Government rejects Coventry Council’s clean air plans

The government has rejected Coventry City Council’s own plans to tackle pollution, ordering it to implement its strategy for clean air zones.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Coventry Council have been contacted for comment, but a Coventry councillor told the BBC that it was a “heavy-handed” move on their part.

The council will now be forced to impose a congestion charge on older cars, buses and lorries, which are considered to be excessive polluters.

Coventry City Council said it had designated the city centre area as an air quality management area since 2009 due to “elevated, yearly levels of nitrogen dioxide”. Plans were in the works for electric taxis, cycling routes and improved bus engines.

These measures were part of an £83m plan to combat pollution and improve air quality, which appeared to not go far enough for DEFRA, who has insisted they implement the government’s own clean air zone plans instead.

The council have been given a deadline of 14 June to respond to DEFRA.

A spokesperson for the government department said it had ordered the council to toe the party line because a congestion charge “was the benchmark option set out in Coventry’s local plan for achieving compliance with legal air quality limits in the shortest possible time.

It said the council had already been given £4.5m to begin implementation of its plans.

The Clean Air Zone tariffs in Birmingham have caused major upheaval with taxis undertaking a go-slow protest in recent months, challenging plans that would see them charged £8 to enter the city centre.