BDB Pitmans advises Bath Council on their Clean Air Zone which starts today

Today (15 March 2021), marks the launch of Bath’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ), England’s first charging CAZ outside of London.

BDB Pitmans’ specialist team led by legal director Rahul Biljani acted for Bath and North East Somerset Council in developing the CAZ and are the UK’s leading legal advisers in this area.

Since 2018, CAZs have been promoted as a tool to tackle air quality issues, especially excessive levels of nitrogen dioxide which contributes to tens of thousands of deaths per year in the UK. A number of local authorities have been directed by the Secretary of State to introduce a CAZ. They involve charging certain types of vehicle for entering or moving within a zone, or other air quality improvement measures.

Bath’s ‘CAZ C’ will charge non-compliant vehicles either £9 (for taxis, private hire vehicles and vans – but not private cars) or £100 (for heavy vehicles) to enter the city centre. This will be followed by Birmingham’s ‘CAZ D’ in June 2021 where private cars will be charged. Over the next two years a dozen more CAZs are expected to come into force including one covering the whole of Greater Manchester. With new national CAZ signage and payment through a central government website there will effectively be a national network of CAZs covering many of the UK’s major cities.

In addition to Bath and North East Somerset Council, BDB Pitmans is advising local authority promoters of six other major CAZ / Zero Emission Zone schemes and also has unrivalled experience in congestion charging and low emission zones.

For more information about CAZs and our team’s expertise read our brochure.