Dieselban

Heavy polluting vehicles off Rutherglen road by 2023

Cars and other vehicles which use diesel will not be permitted on Rutherglen Main Street in five years under new proposals to improve air quality.

Vehicles which do not meet the Scottish Government’s new vehicle emissions standards will be forced to avoid the town centre.

Diesel and heavy polluting cars will not be permitted on Rutherglen Main Street in five years under new proposals to improve air quality in the town.

Vehicles which do not meet the Scottish Government’s new vehicle emissions standards will be forced to avoid the town centre as it is dubbed an air quality management area.

The town was made an air quality management area in 2015 after the Main Street was named amongst the 10 most polluted streets in Scotland for several years running. Its status means that by 2023 many vehicles will be banned from the town, as motoring groups estimate three-quarters of all diesel cars currently on the road would fail to meet the new emissions test.

The news has been welcomed by Rutherglen residents who have been calling on authorities to clean up their act for several years.

Jim Bolton, secretary of Rutherglen Community Council, said: “I welcome these efforts to improve air quality on Rutherglen Main Street, but fear they will be difficult to implement and police.

“Whilst I haven’t studied these plans yet, I think that it would be very difficult to police until the diesel vehicles are abolished altogether.

“The proposals for that aren’t until 2032.

“Even then, the majority of buses are more than 10 to 15 years old.

“You would need a lot of investment in public transport to bring that into line [with the new emissions test].”

Earlier this year Friends of the Earth Scotland released figures showing the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) particles on Rutherglen Main Street were at dangerous levels.

On average for 2016, the street recorded 41.1 microgrammes per cubic metre of nitrogen dioxide, above the European Ambient Air Quality Directive of 40. Proposals to tackle air quality were unveiled this week as part of Transport Scotland’s corporate plan for 2017 to 2020.

It includes phasing out petrol and diesel cars by 2032 to encourage drivers to switch to electric and hybrid cars.

It will also see low emission zones created in Scotland’s biggest cities by 2020.

These will also ban heavy polluting vehicles.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “We’re working hard to improve Scotland’s air quality but pollution caused by road traffic is still a significant threat to health.”

I welcome these efforts to improve air quality but fear they will be difficult to police