Bristol Clean Air Zone charges could rise for first time after city council approves budget

The proposal in the spending plans was not mentioned during the five-and-a-half-hour meeting on Tuesday, February 25, but was voted through along with a raft of measures to cut costs and raise income among £43m of savings needed to balance the books, which is a legal requirement.

The budget papers said the £9 daily fee for motorists to drive through the CAZ had not been increased since it launched in 2022.

Bristol City Council officers will now seek permission from the government to raise it in line with inflation.

But according to the financial figures in the proposal, it would ultimately not earn the authority any extra money.

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The papers said the increase was expected to bring in an additional £200,000 in both 2026/27 and the following year but that income would dip again by the whole £400,000 in 2028/29 as more vehicles became CAZ compliant and would no longer incur the charge.

The budget, including four successful amendments to change the original plans, was approved by 41-27 votes, with the Greens and Lib Dems in favour and Labour and the Conservatives against.