Reading Council criticised over Euro-5 standard LEZ plans for 2011

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) was “gobsmacked” after Reading Borough Council announced that it wants to introduce a Euro-5 standard LEZ (Low Emission Zone) in Reading by 2011.

The council has been criticised after it failed to consult the industry over the plans to clean up the city centre’s air. The scale of these plans and ambitions was not clear to the HGV driving industry until the council hastily held a meeting with the FTA last week.

Its plan is to have an ultra clean air zone just 10 miles away from the LEZ in London by next year.
This scheme is likely to cause controversy, as it is expecting changes to happen very quickly, much quicker than many in the industry would like. Gordon Telling, the FTA Policy Manager, says that he has had to explain to council officials that many transport operators would end up going out of business under such a stringent scheme.

The cost of designing and implementing the scheme is thought to cost less than £2 million, according to a council spokesperson, with an extra £540,000 annual operating and enforcement costs.
Telling says of the scheme:

“The bureaucracy of all this is just phenomenal.”

“I can’t say we have talked them out of it, however, we have opened other doors and moved away from a worst-case scenario. I think they will carry on preparing for an LEZ, but they have said they are open to discuss how other things can be used to work effectively.”