TYNESIDE transport bosses have pledged to update drivers on controversial plans for new pollution tolls “in the coming weeks”.

A new ‘Clean Air Zone’ (CAZ) in which drivers of some high-polluting vehicles would be charged up to £50 a day to drive into Newcastle city centre had been due to launch in January in a bid to slash dangerous emissions levels, but has been delayed.

No firm date has yet been set for when the fees will finally come into force, since Newcastle City Council announced last October that the CAZ would not be arriving on schedule but could still go ahead later in 2021.

Birmingham launched its version of the CAZ this week, despite complaints that doing so at a time when the Covid pandemic is still raging would hit the city’s poorest citizens hard.

Its charges, which include an £8 daily fee for drivers of older cars that do not meet emissions standards, have already been cancelled for the first two weeks to give people time to “familiarise themselves” with the system.

In Newcastle, private car owners would be exempt from any tolls. 

Instead, non-compliant buses, coaches, and lorries will have to pay £50 every day to enter the CAZ, while high-polluting taxis and vans will also be hit with £12.50 fees.

The introduction of the Tyneside charging zone has been surrounded by uncertainty over funding, disruption caused by the pandemic, and a court battle with a company that lost a bid to supply its automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.

But city council chiefs say that the CAZ remains a “key element” of plans to make Newcastle greener, with the city still subject to a legal order from the government to cut illegal pollution levels.

A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: “We are committed to creating a cleaner and healthier environment for everybody in Newcastle. This is a key element of our longer-term vision for the city and cleaning up air quality and delivering a sustainable transport network are key parts of delivering this.

“Newcastle, like other areas in the country, remains under a legal direction from government to deliver improvements to tackle air pollution. Charging Clean Air Zones are government’s focus for making these improvements quickly.

“We are progressing with our plans for a Clean Air Zone with Gateshead Council, including learning from other local authorities such as Bath and Birmingham who have launched their schemes.

“We will set out our position in the coming weeks.”

City transport chiefs have complained that the government has refused to agree to approve a £60m funding bid that would cover the CAZ and a series of other changes designed to support it.

While the Government has offered £20m to cover the cost of setting up the CAZ system itself, the council also wants to enact measures such as public transport improvements and a delivery hub outside the city centre where HGVs can drop off cargo.

A separate £40m to refurbish the Central Motorway and Tyne Bridge, which would have two lanes of traffic removed as part of the CAZ plans, is also still unapproved.