'We're moving our shop because Clean Air Zone killed trade'

The owners of a shop said they have been forced to relocate their business after the introduction of a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) "killed" their trade.

Family-run Yorkshire Decorators Centre has been based on West Bar in Sheffield for 22 years, but has lost £50,000 in takings and regular customers since the low-emissions scheme was introduced.

Under CAZ restrictions in the city centre and inner ring road, the most polluting vehicles, including HGVs, buses, coaches, motorhomes and vans are charged to enter the zone.

The shop's director, Tony Gallagher, said a number of traffic schemes had impacted on footfall and led to the decision to move to new premises in Darnall.

He also cited the loss of convenient parking since the construction of the nearby Dutch-style roundabout.

He said the business "would not survive" if it remained in its present location as many of its customers were traders with older vans, who were liable to pay the CAZ charge of £10 per day.

Mr Gallagher's co-director, Laura Whiting, said the fee was often more than the price of the goods the decorators visited the shop to buy.

"Why would you want to pay £10 to just come and pick up a tin of paint, a roller sleeve, or a paintbrush? Obviously, they're going to take their business elsewhere," she said.

Mr Gallagher said customers were often self-employed and could not afford to upgrade their vans to cleaner alternatives.

Sheffield City Council has run a scheme offering grants for vehicle upgrades, but funding comes to an end in May.

Mr Gallagher said that though he supported the aims of the CAZ, he was not convinced it had reduced pollution around the city as a whole.

"These tradesmen with vans are now going around the city, so all that air they're expelling from the centre is going to the residential areas around Sheffield - I think it's counter-productive."

He claimed there had been "no communication" between his business and the council about the issue.

Councillor Ben Miskell, chair of the transport, regeneration and climate policy committee, said: "Consumer behaviour continues to change post-pandemic, and businesses, like Yorkshire Decorating Centre, will make their own commercial decisions about where to base themselves.

"We've been monitoring vehicle movements following the launch of the CAZ and there hasn't been a decline in the number of vans travelling within the zone."

He added that 88% of vans travelling through the city centre had been replaced with cleaner vehicles and overall the number of high-emissions vehicles had dropped by 70%.

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