We have today (Wednesday 15th April) received a welcome announcement from Joanna Lane, Senior Stakeholder Engagement Officer at Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), that the statutory consultation on the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan will be delayed, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The consultation had been planned for this summer and was due to be discussed at the cancelled LPHCA National Forum at the Emirates Old Trafford tomorrow (Thursday 16th April). However, like other areas of the country,current circumstances have limited the ability to progress the delivery of the Clean Air Plan to previous timescales.
The LPHCA welcomes this essential delay, so that as primary stakeholders and representatives of the taxi and private hire vehicle industry, we can in light of the Coronavirus pandemic and its ‘as yet unknown’ consequences, re-convene to discuss the impact on Greater Manchester and other authority’s Clean Air Plans and proposals UK wide.
The LPHCA will continue to engage with TfGM and other authorities to secure similar delays. The TfGM statement said:
We remain committed to cleaning up Greater Manchester air and work continues, where possible, to progress the Clean Air Plan.
The government has contacted Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), which is co-ordinating the plan on behalf of the Greater Manchester local authorities, to say that it understands that the pandemic may impact on previously agreed timelines.
We anticipate that there may be wider economic impacts that could significantly change the assumptions that sit behind the current Clean Air Plan Outline Business Case. Work has begun to consider the impacts, and a commitment made to updating the government as the picture becomes clearer over time.
The groups most affected by the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan may require different levels of financial assistance than we had anticipated at the time of our previous submission to government.
The national response to the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that traffic levels on Greater Manchester’s road network have dropped dramatically.
There has been a transformational change in travel behaviour, as people follow government instructions to stay at home, avoid public transport, and drive, cycle and walk where possible for essential journeys. This has resulted in significant reductions in air pollution.
Over the coming weeks and months, work will continue to assess the impact of travel changes on the pollution measured by the real-time air quality analysers across Greater Manchester.
This will help inform how changing travel behaviour – and reducing the amount of traffic on our roads in the long term – can positively impact our air quality, improve residents’ health, and help meet Greater Manchester’s ambition to become a carbon-neutral city-region.