Beginning on the 30th of January 2023, Newcastle and Gateshead became clean air zones, now charging vehicles when entering the city centre. The Clean Air Zone, will cover primarily Newcastle but will also cover areas such as Gateshead and Redheugh. Camera's will be located as well as clear signage when entering the Newcastle zone highlighting the charges that may apply. 

 

Why is Newcastle becoming clean air aware?

Central cities including Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth in addition to Newcastle have now instigated clean air zones as a result for the demand to battling air pollution in these prime local areas. Vehicles using petrol and diesel engines emit dangerous nitrogen dioxides into our natural atmosphere- therefore leading to long term health concerns amongst locals who travel to Newcastle regularly for work and leisure. Increasing rush hour traffic leads to congestion on roads. Our growing technological era and accelerations in transport have resulted in transport accounting for 22% of our national GHG emissions. 

Therefore, young children and frequent vehicle users are at most prominant danger for travelling in these petrol vehicles, rectifying the governments further movement to have all vehicles electric by 2030. However the government is not on track for this aim, as a result they have concluded that all cars, motorbikes, vans must be fully-electric by 2032 with HGV's exceeding until 2050. As the globe and nation consider socio-economic disputes on how to progress into the future becoming more environmentally aware, it is clear that Clean Air Zones (CAZ) will increase and become more frequent in other major cities across the country. (Climate Change Comittee, https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-UKs-transition-to-electric-vehicles.pdf)

Fossil fuels can lead to long term health conditions in children and adults of all ages with most serious conditions being: heart disease, respitory issues and child asthma- due to the pollutants in the atmsophere, which Newcastle now strives to eradicate.

As a result of this; Gateshead council have announced a partnership with CAZ to prevent serious issues and become air aware promoting clean air for residents. 

 

So, how do I know if I will be charged entering Newcastle?

Charges applied can range from £15-£50 per day, if the vehicle does not comply with governmental standards. Therefore, you can check if your vehicle is going to be charged via CAZ vehicle checker. ( Newcastle Clean Air Zone, https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/our-city/transport-improvements)

'It will improve the area, as we take care of our surroundings' - One Newcastle local spoke. 

'It's a nice area that needed changing'- Another analysed. 

As we move forwards into the future of taking care of the planet that we inhabit, elimnating air pollution, can allude us onto a sustainable global future.