A TAMESIDE businessman has called on Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to completely scrap his proposed Clean Air Zone (CAZ), not just delay it.
The proposal to charge polluting vehicles to enter the region has brought huge protests, with Mark Atherton claiming it may force his 102-year-old ice cream company to close.
At the moment, May 30 will see it will cost £60 for heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches to enter one of the 10 boroughs, including Tameside.
Hackney cabs and private hire vehicles will face a charge of £7.50, with most licensed ones exempt until next June.
There will be a £10 charge for vans and minibuses from June 2023, while fees for motorhomes and caravans depend on the tax class of the vehicle – it can be either £10 or £60.
Private cars, mopeds and motorbikes are not included in the charges but that has not stopped road signs being installed, with one in Mossley already defaced with a large cross through the date.
Boundaries are set to come in place at Broadbottom and Hollingworth, which lead into High Peak borough and Derbyshire.
And Mark, who runs Ashton-based Levaggi’s, which was in Denton, told how those costs will be passed on to the customer – and how his firm will be specifically hit.
Paying out £10 a day – £560 a week – for ice cream vans would equate to a yearly cost of £29,120.
He also believes postponing the CAZ’s introduction will only kick the problem further down the road, rather than lift it from worried minds.
Mark told The Correspondent: “Leeds have scrapped their plan for a charge. Here’s hoping Manchester does the same with theirs.
“A delay would just kick the issue down the road. My main issue is it’s taxing poor people. It’s not taxing the drivers.
“If Andy Burnham came up with a better idea, I’d go along with it but the problem with this is you’re not actually taxing the people using the vans – we’d have to put our prices up.
“It will put us out of business. People say, ‘Just put £10 on your prices’ but it’s not just that. There are four companies using HGVs that deliver to us, they’re going to charge us more.
“Then if we break down, the tow truck’s already £250. He’s not going to say, ‘I’ll do it cheaper,’ is he? He’s going to put £60 on the cost.
“And two of our rounds are in Glossop and Wilmslow, so they’d have to pay to get out of Manchester. They’re not even working in Manchester!
“It’s badly thought out, you’ve got to pass on the cost – it’s basically a tax against Greater Manchester people.
“As things stand, eight of our vehicles would be hit – and there are loads of ice cream men in the area as in Greater Manchester, there’s more ice cream than anywhere else in the country. The industry’s been going 101 years here.
“If a joiner comes to your house, he’s going to charge you £10 just to do a quote. It’s nothing to do with clean air, is it?
“If you go to the shop and see the HGV delivering. That £60 wouldn’t actually hit the driver, it’s hitting the people who buy the products.
“I feel sorry for people on the breadline at the moment. They could be paying £10-£30 in taxes we don’t even know about.”
The impending introduction of the CAZ is dominating many people’s thoughts – a Facebook group opposed to it has more than 50,000 members.
Labour politicians insist the scheme – by far the biggest proposed in Britain at 493 square miles – is as a result of Government instruction.
That may be true but some critics have pointed out that instruction states a charge is not necessary and Conservative leaders of many councils have called for a postponement.
Denton and Reddish MP Andrew Gwynne raised the issue in Parliament, claiming the zone is an instruction after the Government lost a Supreme Court case brought by the climate change group Client Earth back in 2015.
He also believes Downing Street is not providing support to small businesses to comply, arguing to Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg the £120 million pound allocated for retrofitting was ‘wholly inadequate.’
The response that Greater Manchester has a ‘socialist mayor who must live up to his responsibilities’ and follow the order from Government did not go down well.
Mr Gwynne said: “I was disappointed, but not necessarily surprised.
“It shows the disdain that he and the Government have towards Greater Manchester, and their reluctance to work with us constructively.
“The Government cannot demand Greater Manchester implement these wide-ranging reforms without giving us the tools to do it fairly and in a way that doesn’t penalise residents and small business owners.”