Pollution penalties for Perth motorists?

Only vehicles with the cleanest engines would avoid charges

Motorists should face penalties for driving into Perth unless their vehicles have the cleanest engines, campaigners have said.

The call to introduce a low emission zone (LEZ) in the city was made on the back of Atholl Street featuring in a league table of the most polluted streets in Scotland.

Drivers of cars that do not make the grade would be charged or banned from entering city centres under LEZs to be rolled out by 2020 in the four biggest cities in the country, including Dundee.

Emilia Hanna, an air pollution campaigner for Friends of the Earth Scotland, called for the Scottish Government to work with councillors to extend the policy to Perth. A council report last year said air quality “may require significant intervention” in the form of an LEZ.

Nearly a third of Scotland’s most polluted streets are in Tayside, new figures show.

Dundee’s Seagate and Lochee Road, as well as Atholl Street in Perth, have the “shameful accolade” of appearing in the Friends of the Earth (FoE) league table, which lists the 10 routes in the country that are the biggest threat to public health.

It has provoked an angry reaction from environment campaigners, who accused Dundee politicians of stalling over the introduction of park and ride facilities which are commonplace in Scotland’s other major towns and cities.

Andrew Llanwarne, from Friends of the Earth Scotland in Tayside, said it is “disappointing” there is not faster progress in Dundee for introducing park and ride and more low-emission buses.

“Whilst there are clearly funding issues, this also suggests a lack of political commitment,” he added.

“As they breathe in the polluted city air, Dundee residents are entitled to ask why Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Perth, Stirling and Inverkeithing all have established park and ride facilities, but Dundee still has none.”

Dundee is one of four cities to become a low-emission zone (LEZ) by 2020 under Scottish Government plans.

LEZs impose strict vehicle emissions limits and punish those whose cars do not have the cleanest engines. The RAC has said that covers most diesel vehicles.

Emilia Hanna, an air pollution campaigner for FoE, said only through a low-emission zone and getting people out of cars can the “devastating silent killer” of air pollution be overcome in Perth.

“The Scottish Government and Perth and Kinross City Council should work together to bring forward a lowemission zone for the city, and should promote sustainable transport alternatives like walking, cycling, and public transport,” she added.

A council officer report to Perth and Kinross Council’s environment committee last year said air quality “may require significant intervention”, such as through an LEZ.

The table lists the roads where recorded pollution levels – nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and “particulate matter” – continue to break Scottish and European air quality standards last year.

Alan Ross, the environment convener at Dundee City Council, said there is a big challenge in finding a site for the park and ride. “It’s not that there is a lack of commitment for a park and ride,” he said.

Picture: Steve MacDougall. Left: Congestion in Atholl Street in Perth as traffic moves slowly bumper to bumper. Atholl Street and Seagate and Lochee Road in Dundee are among the most polluted streets in Scotland, according to the latest figures.