FTA has responded to the news that the introduction of Oxford’s Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) will be postponed.
It has also been announced that Birmingham City Council and Leeds City Council have requested postponements of their Clean Air Zone (CAZs).
Natalie Chapman, Head of Urban Policy at FTA, commented: “As the business organisation representing the logistics sector, FTA supports the decision made by Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council to postpone the introduction of the ZEZ; we also support Birmingham City Council and Leeds City Council in their requests to government to have their CAZs postponed. Delaying the introduction of these schemes will allow businesses operating within the logistics sector to focus their efforts on ensuring the public, supermarkets and other retailers all receive the essential items needed during this pandemic. We urge other cities with impending clean air schemes to follow suit; with logistics businesses facing unprecedented demand for food, hygiene products, medicines and other basic items, the right framework must be in place to support these workers through these extraordinary times and to keep the supply chain intact.”
Natalie continued: “FTA fully and wholeheartedly supports the need to improve air quality. It is simply that these schemes pose a major change, and currently our industry cannot undertake the work and planning it needs to do in order to achieve smooth compliance or be certain it has the funds to make these changes. As well as the administrative difficulties logistics is experiencing, supplies of technology, equipment and trucks are already being disrupted and more effects are expected. This will further hinder efforts to comply with these schemes and service our cities efficiently.”
