New campaign launches to Clear the Air ahead of Low Emission Zone being enforced

With less than two months until Aberdeen’s Low Emission Zone comes into force, a new campaign has been launched to provide the necessary information for everyone navigating in and around the city centre.

The Let’s Clear the Air campaign has been developed in partnership with Aberdeen City Council and Getabout and will communicate what and where the LEZ is, why it is being introduced and what motorists should do ahead of enforcement on June 1, 2024.

A spokesperson for Aberdeen City Council said: “The campaign also aims to start an open conversation about how we are making the city centre a cleaner, greener, healthier and more attractive place in which to live, work and play while still being accessible to all.

“Only 14 per cent of vehicles in the region are estimated not to be compliant and drivers of those will still be able to access the majority of city centre car parks.

“Clearly marked routes will show motorists how to navigate their way around the city centre, safe in the knowledge that we’re clearing the air.

“The campaign is a reminder to motorists to check if their vehicle is compliant and to plan ahead if they are among the small percentage of vehicles that will no longer be eligible to drive in the zone.”

Extensive modelling, planning and consultation by Aberdeen City Council has led to the optimal LEZ for Aberdeen that carefully balances the impact on air quality with the impact on residents and city centre businesses.

The zone is concentrated around Union Street and the surrounding streets and at just under 1km2 represents only 0.5 per cent of the total city area.

In line with Scottish Government policy and LEZs in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, Aberdeen’s LEZ is being introduced to reduce the serious health risks by improving air quality in the city centre.

Air pollution affects nine out of 10 individuals living in urban areas, killing 2500 people in Scotland each year and putting the population at risk of serious health conditions such as asthma, respiratory infections, allergies, heart attacks, strokes and other chronic diseases.

Jillian Evans, head of health intelligence and learning health systems, NHS Grampian, said: “Children in particular are more vulnerable to air pollution because their lungs are still developing, they have weaker immune systems and they take in more polluted air because they have a faster breathing rate, breathe through their mouths and are closer to the ground where traffic fumes are more concentrated.”

Visit www.getabout.org.uk to check if vehicles are complaint, see a map of the LEZ and find out more about the Let’s Clear the Air campaign.

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