MOTORISTS driving older, more polluting vehicles are likely to see the charge they pay to drive into central Bristol go up this year.
The current £9 daily fee to enter Bristol’s Clean Air Zone in cars with petrol engines made before 2006 and diesel engines made before 2016 has not increased since the scheme launched in 2022.
Now the city council is considering whether to ask the government for permission to raise it in line with inflation.
Council officers say the idea would bring in an extra £200,000 each year between 2026 and 2028. But the amount the council makes is expected to fall again in the following year, as more drivers switch to newer, CAZ-compliant vehicles that don’t incur the charge.
Other budget proposals affecting visiting drivers include introducing charges for disabled parking bays to bring in £100,000 a year, and pay-and-display parking for the Downs, which would bring in £200,000.
More traffic wardens would be recruited to enforce bus-lane infringements so the council can “meet its sustainable transport goals”, earning the authority a net £100,000 per year.
The council has already voted to bring in charges in two Fishponds car parks. Councillors on the transport and connectivity policy committee voted 7-2 to introduce pay and display charges at Beechwood Road, Stoke View Road and eight other car parks.
The first hour of parking will still be free but motorists will be charged £1.50 for two hours, £3 for three and £4.50 for four. There will be reserved bays for health centres, at £5 per permit.
The Beechwood Road car park serves the nearby Fishponds Road shops, two surgeries at the Fishponds Medical Centre next door and the Beechwood Club.
Stoke View Road, behind Fishponds Road opposite Lodge Causeway, is close to shops, a mosque and McDonald’s.
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service\