Mayor Burnham faces taxi trade backlash over Manchester’s Clean Air Zone plan

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s Clean Air Zone plans are facing an angry backlash from taxi and private hire drivers, with protests on separate days in Rochdale and Bolton.

More than 100 drivers staged a two-hour go-slow protest around Bolton, while Rochdale drivers and operators held a 24-hour strike.

Under proposed new Greater Manchester Combined Authority regulations, hackney carriages and private hire vehicles can only be registered if they are less than five years old, and vehicles older than ten years must be replaced. Drivers feel that the timing of such changes will put many of them out of business. The Manchester CAZ, which covers 10 boroughs in the metropolitan Greater Manchester area, comes into force on May 30, 2022. Under the scheme, taxi and private hire drivers with older, more polluting vehicles, will have to pay a £7.50 a day charge to enter the zone.

At present, any taxi or PHV that complies with Euro 4 (petrol) or Euro 6 (diesel) emissions standards will be exempt from CAZ charges. However this will affect some drivers, especially black cabs in particular, many of whom drive older diesel taxis, the majority of which are Euro 5.

The charges will apply to non-compliant vehicles registered outside Greater Manchester from the day the CAZ starts. But Greater Manchester-registered vehicles will have an extra 12 months in order to update their vehicles, and they will not be charged until May 30, 2023.

Mahmood Akhtar, vice chairman of the Bolton Private Hire Association, said he feared that taxi businesses would be forced to close: “We just can’t afford to purchase the new vehicles. We don’t understand that if we have to sell our current cars to the public, they will still be on the road, so why are we being penalised?”

Greater Manchester authorities have made funding available for drivers to upgrade vehicles, but Akhtar said the funds were not sufficient. “The grants which are being offered are not enough, and we need the rest of the money to help us. We also don’t yet have the infrastructure to support the electric vehicles in the area.”

Nick Astley, owner of Bolton-based Metro Taxis, said: “We want to take a stand and these changes should be postponed, with more help given to the drivers. Otherwise it will have a big impact on customers who rely on us because we will have to increase fares.”

In Rochdale, a 24-hour strike action began at 6am on Monday, January 24. Mohammed Nabeel, co-owner

of Streamline Taxis Rochdale, said he hoped the strike action would highlight a need for the proposals to be looked at again: “It’s going to scare people away from the industry, for sure. I think it could get to the point where drivers will have no choice but to walk away from the trade.”

He continued: “A car less than five years old now is anything between £15-20,000 - that’s a lot of money.” He said the new rules would lead to fare rises in Rochdale. “The prices in Rochdale are probably one of the lowest in all of the UK but there’s no way it will stay affordable for people with these changes.”

A statement from the Rochdale Association for Private Hire Drivers said that all licensed private hire drivers and their customers would be affected by the proposed changes: “If the proposals go ahead, many drivers will be forced out of the trade and those that do continue will be hit with huge costs. As a result of this, the prices paid for taxis by customers will be significantly increased at a time where the global pandemic has already caused severe hardship.”

In a statement, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham called on central Government to make more funds available. He said: “We know this is a major challenge for many individuals and businesses which is why we have always been clear with ministers that it must be accompanied by a fair package of financial support. While the Government has provided £120m, we are concerned that they have so far failed to agree to our request for additional support for those who will find it hardest to make the change.”