Dundee Council approves clean air plans
Environmental campaigners have welcomed the news that last night Dundee City Council formally passed the Low Emission Zone for the city. The Low Emission Zone will improve air quality and protect public health in the centre of Dundee.It will begin in June 2022 with a two year grace period, so the very oldest vehicles will be restricted from the city centre in June 2024.
Dundee’s Low Emission Zone was first announced in 2016, but was delayed by Covid-19, which means dangerous levels of air pollution have persisted in the city. A recent health study showed that hospital admissions were almost two thirds higher in Dundee on days of high pollution
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Transport Campaigner Gavin Thomson said:
“A Low Emission Zone is a measure to protect public health, and people in Dundee have waited a long time to breathe clean air. This Zone is far from perfect – it doesn’t address the illegal levels of air pollution along Lochee Road, for example – but it’s great to see something being done at last.
“COP begins in Glasgow on Monday, and we know that transport is our biggest source of climate emissions here in Scotland. This Zone, by law, must improve our air quality and reduce emissions. Dundee City Council must now introduce other measures, like improvements to public transport and making it easier to cycle across the city, to accompany the Low Emission Zone”.
Dundee City Council’s Community Safety and Public Protection Committee passed the Low Emission Zone at a meeting last night: https://twitter.com/DundeeCouncil/status/1452688875722313729
The final consultation for Dundee’s Low Emission Zone was introduced over the summer: https://foe.scot/press-release/dundee-clean-air-plans-to-be-introduced-at-last/
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Friends of the Earth Scotland is:
* Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation
* An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland
* Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 73 national member groups, and 5,000 local activist groups.