Agenda item

With reference to article 20 of the minute of 28 October 2020, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning which presented Aberdeen’s proposed Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and sought approval to formally submit the scheme to Scottish Ministers following further consultation on and publication of the proposed scheme, assuming no significant changes to the proposals were required as a result of these processes.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      agree the outcomes of the LEZ option appraisal and that Option 6 (encompassing the proposed LEZ boundary and supporting traffic management requirements as detailed in section 3.1.9) best meets the objectives of the Aberdeen LEZ;

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to include consideration of access restrictions at the South College Street / Millburn Street junction within the business case development for Phase 2 of the South College Street Junction Improvement project, and to ensure that the business case includes programming considerations for works delivery in advance of LEZ enforcement commencing;

(c)      agree that 2 years is an appropriate grace period to enable residents, businesses and visitors time to comply with LEZ requirements;

(d)      instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to undertake a further eight-week period of public and stakeholder consultation and engagement on the proposed LEZ boundary and grace period;

(e)      delegate authority to the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Convener of the City Growth and Resources Committee to publish the proposed LEZ scheme following the consultation period, and to formally submit Aberdeen’s LEZ proposal to Scottish Ministers; and

(f)       instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to submit the full financial model for the LEZ to the Council’s budget process for 2022/23.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.