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Green councillors have welcomed news that Bristol will receive money to boost the use of electric vehicles, saying this is an important step towards tackling Bristol’s deadly air pollution. The Ultra-Low West programme, which is being finalised in a Bristol City Council Cabinet meeting today, will see Bristol receive £2M of funding over a 5 year period to promote electric vehicles, increase charging points, reduce heavy goods vehicles in the city centre and pilot a clean air zone1.
Green Councillor for Clifton, Jerome Thomas, who has been campaigning for a low emission zone in Bristol said:
“I am pleased that Bristol will receive funding to promote electric vehicles, which don’t pump out dangerous pollutants onto our streets. Electric vehicles, especially those powered by renewable energy, have an important part to play in tackling Bristol’s dirty air.”
“This scheme is an important step, and we now need to build on this opportunity to ensure that safe and legal air quality limits are met across Bristol. To do this, we will need to work out as a city how we systematically address the worst culprits; older buses, taxis, goods vehicles and diesel cars.”
“We are pleased that the Ultra-Low West programme will pilot a Clean Air area in part of the city centre, but as always the devil is in the detail. Let’s hope that this pilot is thorough and detailed enough to lead as quickly as possible to a low emission zone to clean up our dirty air. 200 Bristolians die every year from air pollution, so there is no time to waste.”
Notes
1. More information can be found in the Ultra-Low West Programme report being discussed by cabinet can be found here: https://www2.bristol.gov.uk/committee/2016/ua/ua000/0405_5.pdf