Bakery boss Martin Goodfellow has warned the impact of introducing the LEZ is like “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut” and will harm city centre businesses.
Mr Goodfellow, who is sales and marketing director for Goodfellow and Steven, warned car use across the city would actually increase, claiming customers will choose to avoid the city centre shopping area and head to out-of-town retail parks instead.
Dundee’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) comes into force on May 30.
It follows Glasgow as being one of the first Scottish cities to restrict the type of vehicle allowed into the boundary, which runs from Bell Street to the north and Dock Street in the south.
Goodfellow and Steven left its city centre location in Union Street 2020, as the pandemic contributed to a commercial downturn.
Business owner’s warning
Mr Goodfellow said he was concerned data collated ahead of the LEZ policy drafting was recorded pre-pandemic.
As a result, he said, it did not take into account the dramatic changes to the city’s retail landscape.
“I am extremely concerned with the imminent introduction of a LEZ,” he said.
“The data on air quality upon which the current decision is grounded is data recorded pre-Covid, so one wonders how accurate a picture it now presents.
“The worst emissions were recorded as a result of diesel fumes from buses in the Seagate.
“The other area of concern is the circle at the top of the Marketgait which is part of the ring road, and not the city centre.
“Much of that traffic never goes into the centre. Against this background, the blanket LEZ coverage of the city centre seems tantamount to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut and in the process, sacrificing our struggling, age old city centre on the altar of politics.
“The introduction of an LEZ would reduce the number of visitors and shoppers into Dundee City Centre (and) increase the number of shoppers using out-of-town shopping centres. That will increase car use, not reduce it.
“I want to see an overall reduction in car use and pollution but do not see this as being a solution in Dundee.
“Retailing should be a path by which young entrepreneurs can find their feet and follow their dreams, with themselves as masters of their own destiny.
“The Scottish Government and local authorities should be concentrating on incentivising city centre use, not making it a no-go zone so they can tick their box marked green credentials while actually making the problems of vehicle use even worse in the city and country as a whole.
“They should concentrate on supporting local authorities to improve public transport, limit bus transportation to electric vehicles and balance the tax burden between city centre and out of town locations to provide fairer, competitive trading.”
What is the council saying about Dundee LEZ?
Plans to restrict certain vehicles would help “accelerate” the city’s compliance with nitrogen dioxide reduction requirements, the council said.
It would, they added, allow Dundee to promote itself as somewhere that is “an inclusive and desirable place to live, invest, visit and learn”.
The council’s climate action plan was agreed pre-pandemic, in 2019.
They said: “Despite improvements in air quality since the introduction of the Dundee City Council Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) in 2011, there remain locations in the city where the Scottish Air Quality Objective (AQO) for annual mean nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels (40ug/m3) are not being met.
“While the number of exceedances of the NO2 annual mean objective has decreased significantly in the past 10 years, the LEZ is to be introduced in the city to further accelerate Dundee’s required compliance with the objective levels.
“The LEZ is also being introduced to contribute to the council meeting greenhouse emissions reductions targets as outlined within the Dundee Climate Action Plan published in 2019, and to help promote the city as an inclusive and desirable place to live, invest, visit and learn.”
Analysis: What is a LEZ and how has it impacted businesses elsewhere?
A Low Emission Zone (LEZ) is an area where only certain vehicles are allowed to enter based on their emissions standards.
LEZs reduce pollution levels and improve air quality by stopping the most polluting vehicles entering a specific area, according to Dundee City Council.
Glasgow City Council introduced their LEZ last summer, with Dundee and Edinburgh set to launch theirs at the end of May.
There has been no significant impact analysis reports published, in particular to business, trade and city centre footfall, since the introduction of Glasgow’s LEZ in June 2023.
Business owners in high streets across Scotland are rightfully concerned about how limiting car access to city centres will affect trade.
Without this data, it is difficult to tell whether the LEZ will have a negative impact on the city’s commercial health.
Anecdotal evidence from Glasgow business owners has been reported. A civil court legal challenge was thrown out at the end of last year.
It is only fair business owners and the public know impact of far-reaching policy decisions, good or bad.
Retailers will know early on how footfall has been impacted. They need to be listened to.
Recent research published by Dundee University shows reducing harmful pollutants could result in 40% fewer child respiratory admissions to hospital. Understandably then, pollution-related deaths need to be drastically cut.
But long term analysis is crucial in making sure policy which affects almost everyone in the city, works best for everyone in the city.
Conversation