TAXI and private hire drivers in Bradford have called on the council to look again at “harsh” plans to introduce a clean air charging zone in the city centre.

The zone, known as the Clean Air Zone, is due to be introduced in Bradford city centre, the Canal Road corridor and parts of Shipley early next year – and has already been approved by the council’s decision-making executive board.

It will see some of the most polluting commercial vehicles charged a daily fee to enter the zone. This fee will be up to £50 for HGVs, while taxis and private hire vehicles that have engines not meeting the CAZ requirements will be charged £12.50 a day to enter the zone.

The Government will provide £10m worth of grants to taxi drivers to upgrade their vehicles – with private hire drivers able to receive up to £3,200 and Hackney Carriage up to £4,000.

The CAZ is an attempt to bring down Bradford’s illegal air pollution levels.

At a meeting of the council’s regulatory and appeals committee this week, representatives from taxi and private hire associations said they were in favour of the clean air zone, but that the proposed rules around which engines were classed as polluting would be unfair to some drivers.

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Under the proposals, Hackney Carriage drivers would need a minimum of a Euro 6 Diesel or Euro 4 petrol engine to be exempt from the charges. Private hire drivers, however, would need a minimum Euro 5 or 6 petrol hybrid engine to avoid the £12.50 fee.

Private hire representatives are concerned this may price some drivers out of the industry, as it means they would have to purchase expensive new vehicles they could ill-afford.

Nadim Ahmed from the Private Hire Operator’s Association said: “The issue is the type of vehicles which the council is going to bring in.

“The private hire side is being restricted – it is unfair to discriminate one side of the trade from the other, when they are doing the same job. Euro 6 (diesel) vehicles are very clean – they cause minimal pollution and have been approved by the EU and UK governments.

“I work in Cullingworth – our fares are already £14 to come to Bradford – it would increase it to £26.50.

“People won’t come into Bradford for £26.50, and back out again for the same amount.

“Give the trade some leeway – allow Euro 6 vehicles across the board. Businesses have had a tough time.”

Zabir Hussain, a driver for Wrose Village, said: “Everybody is in favour of the Clean Air Zone. A lot of drivers have already made the change needed.

“Bath is the only area so far that has gone live – Birmingham will be on Tuesday – they have both allowed Euro 6 (diesel).

“Nobody is against the zone – the last 15 months has been horrendous – financially it is not viable right now to buy a hybrid car, with an unknown future as well. Who is going to take a loan out and have that financial risk right now?

“The specification is very harsh in Bradford. Birmingham and Bath are allowing Euro 6 – so why is Bradford taking the harshest of stances?

“I live in Bradford – our future is the clean air zone,” driver Kaz Shahzad added. “It is the timescales we are concerned about. We have more work but no more drivers – with something like this coming in, we are not going to get the drivers back.”

The drivers were told that their concerns were not related to the paper that was being discussed, as the meeting was to discuss licensing conditions and vehicle specifications, rather than charges.

But panel member Coun Doreen Lee (Lab) said: “Is there going to be a meeting where these gentlemen can address the costs? I think it is needed.

“What we’re passing today is nothing to do with what they are talking about, but we do recommend consultation takes place. If you don’t have that, at some stage you are going to have an all-out war of some description.

“This is a Government initiative – the council is following what the Government has told us to do.”

Chairing the meeting, Coun David Warburton (Lab) said: “We can’t delay this – if we attempt to delay this, the Government will step in and we could lose the grant funding.”

Councillors ultimately voted in favour of plans, which will mean all currently licensed vehicles, can continue to be licensed to their maximum age of 10-12 years, while all vehicles presented for first licenses after May 27, 2021, must meet the CAZ requirements.

The plans passed, included a recommendation for council officers to reassess the Euro 6 disparity between hackney carriage and private hire vehicles. and also a request for the portfolio holder to meet with taxi drivers.