With the confirmation that the CAZ in Leeds will be going ahead, there is surely a need to consider how to alleviate the financial burden to businesses which are required to occasionally deliver to Leeds, but as most of their business is elsewhere cannot justify the cost to upgrade their vehicles.

If the CAZ is to actually have the desired effect of reducing air pollution rather than generating revenue through charges, then a cost-effective alternative to entering the CAZ must be offered. Otherwise will Leeds become a pariah state? – somewhere which some businesses will just refuse to deliver to. Or will they stick a hefty surcharge on any Leeds residents?

For several years I have been learning about a variety of delivery consolidation approaches taken in cities around the UK and across Europe. Although the precise details of each varies considerably, they each reduce the total volume of delivery traffic, by bringing deliveries from multiple sources together, to be completed by a last mile (no caps!) delivery service. In many cases cargo bikes have proven to be an ideal vehicle for these last mile deliveries.

Last Mile would like to establish a one-stop delivery consolidation centre, which will be able to receive goods being delivered to the city from any business coming from outside the CAZ. The council has already identified 3 areas which fall within the CAZ designated area which are exempted from the CAZ. One of these is Holbeck (see map). It is easily accessible from the motorways, and just minutes from the city centre, making it ideally situated for development of a delivery consolidation centre.

When operational, a consolidation centre would allow any business with deliveries for central Leeds to drop their items outside the CAZ for onward delivery by the consolidation centre’s own fleet. Within the city centre many of these deliveries could be by cargo bike, but an electric van would allow deliveries further afield within the CAZ across the city.

I have been banging the drum about the benefits of delivery consolidation for several years now, with some interest from those in a position to promote this as part of our overall CAZ strategy, but so far, no action.

Establishing a functional pilot need not be expensive. Although moving into vacant premises would be ideal, it could equally be established on empty land out of portable buildings and shipping containers. In fact, it would probably cost Last Mile less than the proposed cost for the feasibility study into delivery consolidation that we were asked to contribute to last year.

A delivery consolidation centre need not belong to any one company in particular. I would expect, as it grew that multiple couriers could use the facilities to both drop off and receive goods. And of course, every vehicle making a drop there is potentially one less vehicle travelling into the city.

Now there is official confirmation that the CAZ is going ahead, I look forward to renewed interest in consolidation. I’d be very interested in talking to anyone who recognises the benefit to the city of bringing such a consolidation centre to fruition.