A plea for more funding to support taxi operators across Glasgow will be issued to the Scottish Government before the low emission zone (LEZ) is introduced.
Despite a bid to push back the start of the LEZ by a year, members of the city administration committee agreed on Thursday to push ahead as planned and implement the measures from next June.
The restrictions will be in place 24 hours a day, all year round, to try and tackle the high levels of air pollution Glasgow faces.
READ MORE: Glasgow's Low Emission Zone roll out continues amid warning over taxi impact
The LEZ will affect 226 streets throughout the city centre bounded by the M8 motorway to the north and west, the River Clyde to the South including Argyle Street, Bath Street, Broomielaw, Buchanan Street, Candleriggs, Duke Street, George Square, High Street, Jamaica Street, Mitchell Lane, New Wynd, Osborne Street, Queen Street, St Enoch Square, Sauchiehall Street, Saltmarket and the Trongate.
Residents will have an extra year to comply with the new rules meaning enforcement for vehicles registered to a residential property will begin June 2024.
But concerns have been raised by both Labour and Conservative members about how this will impact the taxi trade, with drivers having to spend vast amounts of money on retrofit devices to make sure their vehicles comply with the statutory requirements by next June.
Glasgow’s conservative group wanted to delay the introduction of the LEZ by a year for non-residential vehicles in line with other Scottish cities, while Labour asked the administration to write to the Scottish Government to request more funding to support the taxi trade.
Labour initially said they would be supporting the amendment from Conservative councillor Thomas Kerr alongside their own planned amendment which called for more support to be given to taxi drivers and the industry, but stopped short of calling for a further delay.
Following the meeting councillor Kerr said this lack of an agreed position on Low Emission Zones is an “insult” to taxi drivers who are fearing the loss of their livelihood.
He said: “Labour are all over the place when it comes to the introduction of Low Emission Zones in Glasgow.
“Their lack of decision making at this committee meeting was nothing short of a shambles. They appeared happy to back my plans for a further delay to the introduction of the policy next year, only to then decide they couldn’t.
“Our hard working taxi drivers deserve better than that. They are worried about what this will mean for their livelihoods which is particularly pertinent during the cost-of-living crisis.
“Labour backed an adequate transition period in their council election manifesto but now can’t even define what that would be.
“I’ve been proud to stand up for and engage with taxi drivers across the city since this policy was first mooted and I was proud to do so again today through my amendment.
“I will always be on their side and look to safeguard their future as much as possible if this policy does come into force next June. The onus is on Labour now to urgently clarify if they are in any way still on the side of taxi drivers after their mixed messaging at this meeting.”
Leader of the Labour group, councillor George Redmond, responded: “Labour could have made the easy choice today and simply dug in our heels for a proposal that we knew would not succeed.
“There were not enough votes in the room. Instead of playing games like the Tories, we made the choice to be realistic, win support and get what support we could for taxi drivers.”
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