Hospitality leaders join campaign against Glasgow low emission zone

Management and owners at Powerleague, Latin venue Boteco Do Brasil and the AXM Club are amongst what campaigners say is the growing number of voices highlighting what they describe as the "damaging consequences on businesses, customers and staff" as a result of the scheme.

Powerleague estimated that around 100 players per week have been unable to access the facility at Townhead to take part in their regular football games due to the LEZ – leading to what campaigners say are significant impacts on physical and mental wellbeing.

The owners of Boteco Do Brasil and AXM Club have said that with a lack of taxis to take folk home and with many private vehicles now unable to enter LEZ, people are choosing to stay away from the city centre altogether.

Glasgow City Council is set to bring in an estimated £600,000 in fines in two months of imposing fines on drivers entering Glasgow's Low Emission Zone.

The number of sanctions imposed after enforcement started in June has doubled in a month.

Some 5,933 penalty charge notices were issued to cars being driven into the LEZ in July - after just 2922 in June.

It means that almost 150 drivers a day are being sanctioned financially for entering the LEZ zone.

The square mile zone - banning many older cars from entering the city centre - is aimed at improving Glasgow’s air quality.

When the LEZ zone was launched campaigners hailed the move as a “big moment” for the city that will save lives by giving residents “more breathable air”.

READ MORE: Council accused of profiteering as Glasgow LEZ fines double

The city council says the LEZ is a "crucial public health measure" that aims to tackle the "harmful pollution that has blighted the city centre for decades, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable".

But critics warn it could hammer the city’s beleaguered night-time economy - still reeling from Covid and the cost of living crisis.

The LEZ slaps drivers with escalating fines starting at £60 if their vehicles enter the area and do not meet emission standards - with petrol cars older than 2006 and diesel cars registered after September 2015 generally compliant.

The council says it is only aimed at a minority of older vehicles which are the most polluting - with up to 90% of cars thought to already meet the requirements.

The Townhead, Glasgow venue of the football centre firm Powerleague, which was founded in Paisley is now trying to manage the consequences of the LEZ.

Christian Rose, chief executive of Powerleague, said: “There are up to 100 players at Powerleague Glasgow a week unable to take part in their regular game of football, which, when you consider the impact, this could be having on both their physical and mental wellbeing, is a real concern.

"Of course, this brings a challenge to our business financially and like many other businesses locally, this is and will continue to have a negative impact, however the greater challenge as we see it is the prevention of our customers not fortunate enough to have a LEZ compliant vehicle being essentially prevented from their regular weekly exercise.

“We are finding that many of our customers and colleagues are having to park outside the zone and either walk in or get a taxi here.  Also, it’s becoming a recurring issue that our suppliers are having to drop off deliveries outside the zone, and then we need to go and collect it. This brings increased risk for both our valued colleagues and of course presents increased risk on business losses.

“It’s making running a business like Powerleague very awkward and more costly, with customers missing out on the physical and mental wellbeing benefits of playing football, every day.

“We are firmly committed to improving the environment but the unintended consequences of the LEZ need to be seriously considered.”

It comes as Glasgow City Council spent almost £100,000 to hire vehicles to replace parts of its fleet that do not comply with its low-emission zone (LEZ).

Figures also reveal the council was fined several times because its vehicles breached the rules.

The SNP-run council said the cost was mitigated by taking older vehicles out of service. The Tories said the rental outlay was "farcical".

Luigi Aseni, owner of Boteco Do Brasil based at Trongate, added: “The impact of the LEZ has been nothing but negative. I am not against making Glasgow greener, but the council needs to apply a lot more logic.

“The city centre doesn’t offer what it used to – from parking, diversity and quality, and LEZ has just made it worse. It’s stopping people from coming into the city centre and businesses across the hospitality and night-life sectors are feeling the effects of it.

“We used to have loads of customers from Trongate who would come into Boteco Do Brasil. There was a taxi rank outside our venue to take customers and staff back home, but we don’t have that any more. Safety is clearly something council didn’t think about because now people are struggling to get home with the lack of taxis and buses.

“As a concept, the LEZ is totally wrong. History teaches us that most activity – shopping, hospitality, night-life – should take place in the centre of a city, but Glasgow City Council is destroying all of that. The communication from council with our industry has been non-existent. It’s incredible that council aren’t doing anything to look after businesses.”

The owner of Glasgow’s leading LGBT venue, AXM Club, feared bars and nightclubs would close down because of the LEZ enforcement.

Scott McMillan, owner of AXM Club on Glassford Street, said: "Only the strongest will survive. This is not the Glasgow we grew up with, it’s ruining our city.

“Around the Merchant City between 11pm and midnight the streets are really busy, but by 12.30am the streets are dead because people are generally worried about how they’ll get home later. "

He said people were leaving the club, which is open to 4am, earlier as they are worried about getting home.

He said in two weeks’ time they are opening at 8pm on a Saturday night to try and get some of the pub business.

"That’s upsetting the pub owners but what can we do," he said.

“As a LGBT venue other customers want to come to us as we offer them a safe space. How can we be that safe space if they can’t get home," he said.

“Every hospitality business owner I know hates what the LEZ has done. Glasgow is fast becoming the place not to go to rather the vibrant welcoming city we used to be.

The Scottish Licensed Trade Association has said it is “deeply concerned about the negative impact” Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) will have on the hospitality sector.

Colin Wilkinson, managing director at the SLTA, said: “The introduction of the LEZ is concerning for a number of industry sectors, and from a licensed hospitality perspective we are deeply concerned about the negative impact this exclusion initiative will have on the hospitality and night-time economy sectors and those that supply our industry.

“As an organisation, together with our members we care greatly about creating cleaner, less-polluted city centres. However, this must be achieved in the right way, at the right time, with a fully integrated approach.

“Recent air quality reports show that Glasgow’s air quality is good and meeting required standards – so why is it necessary to introduce phase two of this scheme?"

Leon Thompson, executive director, UKHospitality Scotland added: “We have serious concerns about how workers in hospitality, and the night-time economy specifically, are being impacted by LEZ. In the absence of suitable late-night alternatives, many bar and nightclub workers need to drive to and from work, incurring fines. In a cost-of-living crisis this is adding to the financial pressure on our workers and potentially pushing them to look for employment elsewhere. This is an issue that has also been raised in other cities implementing or considering similar schemes.

“It is vital that Glasgow City Council engages constructively with the sector on the impact that the LEZ is having on businesses and workers.”

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “Plans to phase in a LEZ were announced in 2018 and since then, there has been an extensive programme of communications and engagement to raise awareness of the scheme, its timescale for introduction and the availability of funding to ease compliance.

“We are aware that various economic factors at national and global levels mean this is a challenging time for businesses, and there is no question the night-time economy in particular is facing a considerable, combined challenge of Covid recovery and high inflation.

“The Covid pandemic has also led to dramatic changes in the way Glasgow city centre is used however the data we have shows city centre footfall is higher in the evenings and at weekends than before the pandemic.

“We have been working closely with the business community on how to support the city centre and we will continue to engage with them on how to promote its recovery.

“Billions are now also being invested in developments that will help to boost the city centre population in the longer term and make the city centre far more resilient in future.

“It is also the case that all public hire taxis now either meet LEZ standards or have received an exemption until next year.

“While the vast majority – up to 90% - of vehicles currently entering the city centre are unaffected, the LEZ standards address the most polluting vehicles which are disproportionately creating the harmful concentrations of air pollution.”