Epping Forest District Council will debate the potential introduction of a Clean Air Zone charge for motorists tonight.
The extraordinary council meeting, called by Cllr Chris Pond, Cllr Stephen Murray, Cllr Jon Whitehouse, Cllr Stephen Neville and Cllr Michael Owen, will be held at 7pm tonight.
The public can watch the meeting live, but as it is an extraordinary meeting, have not been allowed to pre-submit questions for councillors.
The council’s the Interim Air Pollution Mitigation Strategy includes plans for a Clean Air Zone to charge drivers using roads in the district, similar to how the ULEZ works in London.
Council documents state the CAZ would need to be introduced by 2025 to achieve the necessary environmental benefits to ensure the council would be compliant with Natural England’s Habitat Regulations.
In 2005 Epping Forest was declared as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), meaning the council has to meet certain environmental criteria to be allowed to approve development in the district.
Currently, the council says it is struggling to meet that criteria, and if unable to rectify the situation, it may face having its Local Plan – currently up for approval with the Planning Inspectorate – rejected.
If this were the case, the council’s housing targets would be set by the Government, at around 22,000 new homes a year, where as if the Local Plan is approved that figure will be closer to 11,000.
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