Detailed plans for Dundee’s Low Emission Zone could be finalised next week and move to the next stage if councillors back the blueprint .
The plan follows an eight-week consultation on the final design of the city’s LEZ which included meetings with community groups, neighbouring local authorities, transport bodies, bus operators, taxi drivers/operators and other interested parties.
Thousands of people at addresses inside the inner ring road were also encouraged to take part after flyers were delivered, detailing the planned boundaries, types of vehicle excluded from the zone, penalty notices and the grace period.
Lynne Short deputy convener of the council’s community safety and public protection committee said: “There is no question in my mind that these plans offer us the best way to improve air quality at the places in the city where it does not meet current standards and beyond.
“A Low Emission Zone within the Inner Ring Road has positive knock-on effects in all of our communities because of the way bus routes are structured. Any bus on any route will have to be compliant to access the city centre and so there will be lower emissions everywhere it goes.
“The report concludes what has been a detailed, well-informed and transparent debate about our air quality, our health and the kind of place we want to be and I would like to thank all of those who took the time to get involved.”
Mark Flynn convener of the city development committee said: “These plans cement our commitment to ensuring that we deliver a Low Emission Zone for Dundee, arrived at through a thorough and detailed process that has been underpinned by experts in air quality, traffic management, health and commercial concerns at every stage.
“Along with Scotland’s other three major cities we will now look to move to the next stage of the process by publishing the scheme and continuing to engage with the Scottish Government on the issue of funding to run the LEZ.”
The proposals could see Dundee introduce its LEZ in spring 2022, in line with the Scottish Government’s current timetable.
A two-year grace period is set out, with enforcement beginning for all vehicles in spring of 2024. There will be no additional grace period beyond that for residents living within the LEZ boundary.
The LEZ will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and be enforced through a network of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras with an initial penalty charge for all non-compliant vehicles entering the zone of £60, reduced by 50% if it is paid within 14 days. The default penalty charges for LEZs have been set by the Scottish Government and are therefore consistent across the country.
An LEZ will contribute to the broader city objectives and the vision to create a healthy, vibrant and attractive city by protecting public health through improving air quality in Dundee and achieving air quality compliance for NO2, PM10 and PM2.5.
Dundee's LEZ will develop an environment that helps to promote more active and sustainable travel choices, contributes to the city's ongoing transformational change and helps to promote Dundee as an inclusive and desirable place to live, invest, visit and learn.
To find out more about Dundee’s LEZ, including traffic modelling, air quality data and the rationale for choosing which areas were included, go to http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/lez
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
