Air clean-up may see ban on Perthshire polluters

Improvement of air quality bid will also include Crieff town centre

High polluting vehicles could be banned from streets in Perth and Crieff as part of a radical new plan to improve air quality.

Perth and Kinross Council is considering a range of options to fight long-standing pollution problems.

Councillors will today be asked to approve plans for a new taskforce to work on a strategy which could involve the creation of low emission zones.

The move has been welcomed by Friends of the Earth Tayside.

Coordinator Andrew Llanwarne said: “If people are concerned by the possibility of restrictions on the more polluting vehicles, such as through the introduction of low emission zones, they should be reminded of these health effects on children walking to school, commuters arriving at work, and older people going to the shops.”

High-emission vehicles could be banned from certain streets in Perth and Crieff under radical plans to improve air quality.

Council bosses are considering a range of options to tackle pollution at some of its most congested routes.

The exact areas have yet to be determined.

In the past few years, almost £170,000 has been spent on a range of measures to clean up the Fair City.

However, a report which goes before Perth and Kinross Council’s environment committee this morning suggests that more action needs to be taken.

It comes after Atholl Street in Perth city centre was named one of Scotland’s most polluted roads with an annual average of 48 microgrammes of nitrogen dioxide detected per cubic metre. The legal limit is 40.

A report by the council’s principal environmental health officer, Kirsty Steven, calls for a taskforce – the Corporate Air Quality Working Group – to be set up to develop a strategy to improve air quality, in line with the Scottish Government’s Cleaner Air for Scotland (CAFS) framework.

Ms Steven states that Perth and Crieff could benefit from the creation of low emission zones.

This would involve setting minimum emission standards for a defined area and either charging or excluding vehicles which do not meet those standards.

Another proposal is to establish a clean air zone which would look at setting up different entry standards for the most polluting vehicles.

Certain traffic, based on weight, could also be stopped from entering polluted areas at certain times of the day.

The council may also carry out a wider appraisal of its traffic management strategy and could attach air quality conditions to licences for taxis and buses.

The council has received an extra £140,000 of Scottish Government funding to fight air pollution over the coming year.

Nearly £120,000 was received in 2015 to implement a range of measures, including encouraging children to walk and cycle to school and bus interchange improvements in Crieff.

Four air quality monitors have been installed to measure pollutant levels round-the-clock.

Picture: Phil Hannah. Atholl Street in Perth was named one of Scotland’s most polluted roads.