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Press Release

Published: September 15, 2021

The Scaffolding Association publishes Clean Air Zone Tracker – the first of its kind

The Scaffolding Association has published details which demonstrate the scale of Clean Air Zones (CAZ’s) being introduced across the UK.

Bath, Birmingham, and London already have schemes in place which are imposing charges on certain light and heavy commercial vehicles to enter specific areas and nearly a dozen more major towns and cities across the UK are at the advanced stages of introducing similar arrangements.

In recent years, government has increased pressure on local authorities to improve air quality and many have chosen to introduce charges to deter the most polluting vehicles from entering their towns and cities.

The devolved powers that these local authorities have been given from central government has led to inconsistencies to the types of vehicles affected and the charges being applied from one town or city to another causing significant confusion for fleet operators.

The Scaffolding Association is pleased to be able to provide their CAZ Tracker which will help their members and the wider sector to understand the implications and support them when quoting for work and planning their journeys. 

Chief Executive of the Scaffolding Association, Robert Candy, said “It is inevitable that our members working in urban areas will be impacted by Clean Air Zones now or in the very near future. Daily charges from £2 for LGVs to £300 for HGVs must be factored in when tendering for work and planning vehicle movements”.

He added “it is disappointing that local authorities see fit to penalise those working to build, repair or restore within their towns and cities. The construction industry has no feasible alternative to using commercial vehicles and more time should have been given for these businesses to upgrade to newer cleaner vehicle technologies in order to avoid charges”.

He said “The average lifespan of a HGV is 12 years and businesses which have invested in vehicles that are now affected by CAZ’s have seen their values decimated and it will now be very difficult to sell them on”.

Notes for editors

The Scaffolding Association is the UK’s largest dedicated trade association representing the Scaffolding and Access industry.

The construction sector employs 2.7millon people, contributes over £100bn to the UK economy which is 7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Press Contact: Chris Seaton – [email protected] or 07979 531464