WK41 Oxford Journal

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Council denies pollution decision will ‘backfire’ OXFORD City Council has voted in favour of setting an age limit of 12 years on black cabs, in what they hope will reduce pollution levels in the city. But Green councillors in Oxford have criticised a move by the Labour-controlled city council to reject an amendment that would have seen low emission vehicles excluded from the age limit. The Greens believe that taxi fi rms may be discouraged from investing in low emissions vehicles, such as electric and hybrid cars, if they then cannot be used after 12 years. In addition to the age limit for black cabs, a 10-year limit has also been introduced for private hire vehicles. Green Group leader Cllr Craig Simmons said: “We didn’t seek to remove the age limit, what we did was sought to provide an exception to it for low emission vehicles. “Why throw out the whole of the car when it’s only essentially the engine which is the problem? With new electric or hybrid engines, they could keep

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the shell of the car. “New vehicles aren’t necessarily less polluting than older ones – in most cases they are – but there are notable exceptions. “It can backfi re and could lead to good vehicles being taken off the road and being replaced with worse vehicles, and also taxi drivers not investing in low emission vehicles.” But Labour councillor and Oxford City Council leader Bob Price disagreed, and believed the amendment was unnecessary. He said: “As usual, this is tripe. The proposals for a 12-year maximum life for hackney cabs do not take effect until 2016. “The purpose of having this maximum is to ensure that the overall quality of the taxi fleet is high and meets the expectations of residents and visitors for safety, comfort and efficiency. “There is no reason to think • Continued on Page 2


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