Low Emission Zone

DRIVERS in Dundee have been advised to prepare for the city’s first Low Emission Zone which officially launched today (TUESDAY).

While signage on the major entry points to the zone is being erected, a two-year grace period meaning enforcement won’t begin for all vehicles until spring of 2024 is giving drivers, businesses and local people time to get ready.

Mark Flynn convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee said: “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.”

An area inside the A991 inner-ring road will form the Low Emission Zone within which only vehicles that meet the emission standards set out in the Low Emission Zone (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 can be driven.

In summary this means that petrol cars and vans registered from 2006, diesel cars and vans registered from September 2015 and buses, coaches and HGVs registered from January 2013 will be eligible to access the LEZ.  Owners can check whether their vehicle is compliant at https://www.lowemissionzones.scot/get-ready/vehicle-registration-checker

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.

When enforcement starts in May 2024 there will be 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.

Scottish Government ministers recently approved the details of each of the four Scottish LEZs, including Dundee.

Lynne Short deputy convener of Dundee City Council’s community safety and public protection committee said: “Today’s launch is the culmination of a number of years of planning and consultation on the LEZ, complemented by the adoption of other policies that have been introduced in recent times to help improve quality of life.

“As a city this has meant that we have been able to bring commercial transport companies with us and welcome the investment that has been made in new buses and lots of newer taxis that are already compliant with the requirements of the LEZ.”

The 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.”

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%.

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