South's first clean air zone introduced - will your vehicle be charged?

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The leader of Portsmouth City Council has told ITV News Meridian there are 'cheaper and more effective' ways of reducing air quality than a clean air zone.

Councillor Gerard Vernon-Jackson Leader's come on the first day of new charges for some of the most polluting HGVs, buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles.

The Liberal Democrat accused the Government of ignoring alternative suggestions such as free bus passes and a scrappage scheme for private cars,

"There are better, cheaper and more effective things to do. The Government has a one size fits all policy and they just tell us what we have to do and we do it.

"This is what the Government imposes on us, we have no choice. They have their one way of doing it.

Watch: how the clean air zone works

"We think that if you give people bus passes to encourage people to leave their cars at home we thought that would be a good way for people to make that swap.

"We thought having a scrappage scheme for old and polluting cars in the city centre would be an effective way of getting those cars off the road. The Government would just not listen."

The city is one of 60 areas across the country with pollution levels above the legal limit.

'Life-changing'

The British Heart Foundation claim 20,000 people living with serious lung conditions such as asthma and COPD in Portsmouth will benefit from the zone. 

Claire Snowdon-Darling’s father Malcolm, who recently passed away, suffered from asthma and COPD. She welcomes the zone,

"My dad was born and bred in Portsmouth and lived there until the mid-70s when he moved to Germany for six years. He returned in 1982 and lived nearby from then on. I am convinced the pollution contributed to his illness, even possibly that it was the cause. He grew up in Portsmouth in the 1950s and 60s when there was a lot of pollution from coal and smog. 

Claire Snowdon-Darling with her father Malcolm Credit:

"He was diagnosed with COPD ten years ago, but it was in the last two years that he became really ill and in the last few months struggled to walk far. Talking was a struggle for him and it was awful watching the independent, active man I’d always known unable to do everyday tasks.

 "My dad didn’t enjoy going into the centre of Portsmouth for years as the traffic fumes made him feel more breathless. The new Clean Air Zone comes too late to help him but hopefully it will help many other people and prevent them from suffering."

Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation said: 

"This new Clean Air Zone could be life-changing for the thousands of people in Portsmouth with asthma and COPD, who struggle to breathe because of the city’s dirty air but this should be just the first step. The council still needs to go further to protect people from life-threatening asthma attacks and COPD flare-ups. It needs to expand the zone and strengthen the regulations to prevent all vehicles including cars from pumping out unsafe fumes."

Campaigners believe the clean air zone will do little to deal with the pollution problem Credit: Campaigners believe the clean air zone will do little to deal with the pollution problem

Concern from businesses

While businesses accept the need for cleaner air, some companies have criticised a lack of financial support with the zone impacting vehicles making the journey to and from the Isle of Wight, which do not travel via Southampton.

Mike Elkins runs Portsmouth City Coaches which has a fleet of 16 coaches.

Half do meet the environmental standard but the other half don't. The company is not entitled to any more grants and now faces passing on the £50 daily charge to customers.

Speaking to ITV Meridian earlier in the year Josh Harris, director of Wight Coaches based on the Isle of Wight, described a £3.6 million pot of cash providing support grants as ‘worthless’ as his fleet of nine-year old coaches cannot be retrofitted.

"We completely understand where Portsmouth city council are coming from in having this but we just feel there should be some exemption for coach operators. A coach, if full of people, takes cars off the road and that surely is a good thing."

"As a coach operator I feel like we are held to ransom. The daily charge is what we are going to have to pass on to our customers. It might put groups off traveling to the Isle of Wight."