Court bid to halt Glasgow's Low Emissions Zone (LEZ) rejected

The Glasgow Times revealed how a car repair firm within the zone attempted the court challenge to the Glasgow City Council scheme and made a last-minute move to have it suspended ahead of further potential court action.

It sought to have the introduction of the low emission zone tomorrow suspended ahead of further action in the legal challenge.

But a judge at the Court of Session refused the motion and said the balance of convenience lay heavily in favour of the local authority and granted it expenses of the hearing.

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Car and van drivers will face financial penalties as of tomorrow if they drive in the low emission zone in a non-compliant vehicle.

In the action before Lord Harrower Paton's Accident Repair Centre maintain that the scheme is unlawful or that the local authority was in breach of a continuing duty to keep it under review. It also claims it is disproportionate.

The scheme came into force in May last year but there was a period of grace for non-residents which expired today.

Timothy Young, counsel for the car repair business which lies inside the zone, said it was clear the LEZ would have a "very significant" impact as it was estimated that a third of its business was working on non-compliant vehicles.

An expert report had been prepared which showed that air monitoring at sites in the city centre showed they were compliant with air quality standards.

Mr Young said: "In circumstances where these statutory objectives are already being met and there is no proper, rational basis that they are not going to met in future then that cannot be the objective of  the LEZ because it is already being met."    

Ruth Crawford KC, for Glasgow council, asked Lord Harrower to refuse the motion for interm suspension brought by the firm.

She maintained that the judicial brought over the LEZ plan was "on any view out of time".

The senior counsel said there was "a fundamental misconception" on the part of those bringing the challenge. She said the council had engaged in an exercise involving complex modelling rather than just data.

It had taken into account public health objectives and a public information campaign over its introduction was undertaken at a cost of £66,000.

The Glasgow Times revealed on Saturday how a city centre business, Patons Auto Centre, was taking its case to the court of session seeking a judicial review of the LEZ.

The firm, which says it will lose more than a third of its business if the LEZ enforcement begins, argued the move to phase two is unnecessary.

READ NEXT: Dealership boss hits out at Glasgow Low Emission Zone (LEZ)

It commissioned a study of Glasgow’s air quality and pollution monitoring and said the results showed that phase one of the LEZ in place since 2018 for buses has achieved the objective of making the city centre’s air within legal pollution limits.

We reported yesterday how Henry Skoda dealership boss hit out at Glasgow City Council over the second phase of the Low Emission Zone which he said will have a "significant impact" on businesses like his.

Bruce Henry, managing director of the dealership, claims that throughout the consultation period in 2021 he received no invitation for engagement with the council and was never notified directly that his business would soon fall within the LEZ.

READ NEXT: Court bid to halt Glasgow's Low Emissions Zone (LEZ) rejected

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We also told how a union has called for parking changes at a Glasgow hospital to be halted as the new zone comes into force.

Staff parking at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary will be reduced by hundreds of spaces on June 1 – the same day the controversial LEZ scheme begins in the city centre.

We also told how protesters against Glasgow's new zone marched through the city at the weekend. 

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “Glasgow’s LEZ will come into force as planned on the 1 June 2023.

“The application for the interim order has been refused.”

The head of a charity that backs the LEZ has welcomed the court ruling which means the enforcement will go ahead as planned.

Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma + Lung Scotland, said:  “We know that low emission zones are one of the most effective ways to tackle air pollution caused by vehicles, quickly.

“It will mean a reduction in harmful air pollution for everyone. With one in five Scots developing a lung condition like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in their lifetime, for them, this is a day to celebrate.

“Air pollution is a public health emergency, and it requires bold political leadership to tackle this issue head on and prioritise public health now and for future generations.”

The council has maintained the LEZ will improve air quality further and that at some sites there has been an increase in pollution levels again after lockdown in 2020 and 2021 meant air quality was within legal limits.

Angus Millar, convener for climate and transport told the Glasgow Times in a recent interview: “At key locations, there has been marked improvement, like Hope Street.

“But we still see there are illegally high levels of air pollution.

“We were supposed to, as a city, meet these standards two decades ago in terms of the statutory levels.

“Vehicle emissions are the main driver for that.”

Meanwhile, the Glasgow Conservatives said the scheme should have been delayed by another year to allow more time for businesses and taxi drivers to adapt.

Thomas Kerr, group leader, said: “The Low Emission Zone is a classic SNP-Green idea that sounds great on paper – and indeed is one that the Glasgow Conservatives are behind in principle – but the roll-out of has been completely botched.

“Throughout the whole process, SNP and Green councillors have completely refused to listen to legitimate concerns over this being enforced as of now.

“They have failed to engage with our taxi trade who were battered by the pandemic and have had little time to get back on their feet. Now 1000 livelihoods in the taxi industry are at risk."