25-07-2025
Signs come down for Manchester's Clean Air Zone after three years
Work has begun to take down hundreds of Clean Air Zone signs as the controversial scheme is "finally put to bed".
The divisive project across Greater Manchester has cost more the Government more than £100m, after they instructed local leaders to bring down nitrogen dioxide levels in 2017.
More than 1,300 signs were installed across Greater Manchester, warning motorists of daily charges on certain vehicles. But in early 2022, the scheme was paused due to public backlash.
Since then, the Clean Air Zone signs have been covered with stickers saying "under review".
In January 2025, the Government approved plans from local leaders to meet government clean air targets, arguing that rising costs would stop drivers upgrading their vehicles.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has now confirmed that work has begun to take the signs down.
In a report, transport bosses said that 'the release of funds' for councils to remove or repurpose the signs, has been approved.
Clean air campaigners criticised the decision to scrap the scheme, claiming that it is contributing to an 'epidemic' of serious lung problems and respiratory illnesses, but Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham insists charging motorists would not have helped.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has welcomed the signs coming down, saying that the scheme is "finally being put to bed".
Robert Downes, FSB's development manager in Greater Manchester, said: "While we've known the CAZ was all but dead and buried quite some time ago, it's symbolic and definitive to learn that plans are now in motion to bring down the signage.
"Despite all the effort we put in to opposing the CAZ it was, ironically, the signs going up in the first place that triggered the massive reaction from both the business community and the wider public when they woke up to the huge financial implications of what was being proposed.
"You only now have to look around the country to see other city regions who rushed ahead with similar schemes to see how they have hammered businesses, many of whom have been forced to close because of the unavoidable costs.
"While it may have taken local decision makers a while to come around, it's always better late than never."
The Clean Air Zone would have seen taxis, vans, lorries and buses that don't meet emissions standards charged up to £60 a day.
Under the new "investment-led" approach, there will no charges. Instead, the government has allowed Greater Manchester to spend £86m on a series of other initiatives including grants to upgrade vehicles and measures to reduce traffic around the city centre.
The lion's share of this funding will go towards zero emission and cleaner diesel buses which transport bosses say is already helping.
More than 300 electric buses are now in use across Greater Manchester's Bee Network with plans to fully electrify the fleet by 2030.
TfGM says this has contributed to air pollution dropping again in 2024. However, 38 places still had illegal levels of nitrogen council leader Eamonn O'Brien, who is the Clean Air lead for Greater Manchester, said: "We've always been focused on doing what's right for Greater Manchester, and by accelerating investment in our public transport network, we're showing that it's possible to improve air quality faster than if a charging Clean Air Zone had been introduced.
"Investment in the Bee Network is enabling more people to choose cleaner, greener ways to get around – like public transport and walking or cycling – instead of driving.
"As we deliver our Clean Air Plan alongside the Bee Network, with support from the government, we'll roll out the UK's first fully integrated, zero-emission public transport system by the end of the decade and improve the air we all breathe for generations to come."
