A petition to allow traffic from the Portsmouth ferry to avoid entering the Portsmouth Clean Air Zone has been rejected by the Government.
The Portsmouth Clean Air Zone was introduced in November 2021, under instruction from the Government.
The petition argued:
Allow the Isle of Wight Wightlink ferry traffic an exit from the Portsmouth Terminal that can avoid the clean air zone, all other docks/ports have been excluded from the clean air zone.
The Island is already disadvantaged, so a £50 a day charge is excessive when Islanders are not given an alternative route. The use of other ferry routes would create more pollution due to extra unnecessary drive time.
Rejection
The response from Government reads:
Decisions about local clean air zones are a matter for the relevant local authority, not the UK Government or Parliament. You could raise your issue with a local councillor who represents you.
You can find out who your local councillors are, and how to contact them, by entering your post code here: https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-councillors
We have published the following petition, which you might like to sign: Revoke local government powers to charge CAZ, LEZ, ZEZ and ULEZ: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/618266
Who will be charged
Only the most polluting ‘non-compliant’ vehicles will be charged daily for driving in the zone. These non-compliant vehicles include heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles.
Only vehicles that don’t meet Euro 6 emissions standards (if diesel) or Euro 4 emissions standards (if petrol) will be charged.
Drivers of private cars, motorcycles and vans won’t be charged to drive in the Portsmouth CAZ, but could be charged in other zones across the UK.
Map of clean air zone
You can find out more about the Portsmouth Clean Air Zone by visiting News OnTheWight’s archives or the CAZ Website.
