Boris Johnson to reintroduce pollution zone a year after UK deadline

Hélène Mulholland
guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 October 2009 01.52 BST
Boris Johnson will reintroduce the third phase of the low emission zone – which bars the most polluting vehicles from entering London – in 2012, one year after Britain is expected to meet a crucial deadline on reducing dangerous airborne particles. The decision, included in the long awaited draft Air Quality Strategy for London, is likely to infuriate critics who have repeatedly warned that the health of Londoners is at stake.
Campaigners point to figures that suggest poor air quality in the capital – which is one of the worst offending cities in Europe – contributed to the premature death of more than 3,000 Londoners in 2005, while the Campaign for Clean Air in London suggests the figure could be as high as 8,000. The government's own figures estimate they result in 12,000 to 24,000 premature deaths a year in Britain.
Johnson provoked a furore in February when he suspended the introduction of the third phase, which was due to come into force next year, just three months after announcing he planned to scrap the western extension of the congestion charge zone. At the time he said it was to protect the capital's small businesses.
The government is trying to avoid fines of up to £300m from the European commission after failing to comply with directives on air quality and had included the extended congestion zone and third phase of the LEZ in submissions to reach the targets by 2011 to try to avert fines. The fines relate to levels of particulate matter (PM10) which are airborne particles emitted mostly by traffic.
After initially suspending the LEZ, the mayor's environment team, headed by Isabel Dedring, conducted detailed modelling of two hundred policies and concluded that the third phase of the LEZ is "a useful piece of the puzzle" in reducing PM10s.
The low emission zone covers the whole of London and currently targets buses, coaches and lorries over 3.5 tonnes.
The third phase of the scheme would have affected 90,000 smaller vehicles whose owners would have incurred a £100 daily charge if they did not meet emission standards.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had warned Johnson he would have to deliver "equal, if not greater, benefits to improve air quality" in his strategy and has already looked at exercising its powers of direction over the mayor if he fails to come up with a plan to improve air quality in the capital.
Dedring said the London mayor's proposals outlined in the draft strategy would be enough to comply.