Glasgow's Low Emission Zone (LEZ) spells disaster for local business

Patons Accident Repair Centre on Lister Street is less than 500 metres from the boundary of Glasgow’s LEZ, but due to its location within the zone, it says roughly a third of its business will be wiped out when Phase 2 comes into effect.

Rolling out on June 1, the second phase of the LEZ will see all vehicles that don’t comply with emissions standards (diesel vehicles registered before 2015 and petrol vehicles registered before 2006) prohibited from entering the city centre.

Motorists cannot pay to enter the zone. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras will monitor vehicles entering the LEZ.

Non-compliant vehicles are automatically detected, and Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) are sent to the registered vehicle owner.

The fine starts at £60 and doubles each day the same non-compliant vehicle is detected in the zone.

Patons Accident Repair Centre, which has been operating in Townhead for more than 60 years, repairs vehicles that have been involved in accidents within a wide catchment area that extends beyond the borders of the LEZ.

It repairs around 150 vehicles per month, which are deployed to the shop by national insurance companies, brokers, and accident management companies.

Company director William Paton told the Glasgow Times that after reviewing the last two years’ work provision at the Accident Repair Centre, he found that 35% of the vehicles it works on are non-compliant.

He said: “We’ve taken every step possible for us to comply, however, we cannot control the customer's cars that are involved in accidents.

“And we are different to other businesses in town which rely on footfall or rely on people being the customer, we rely on vehicles.”

Roughly 20% of the vehicles Mr Paton services come in on a recovery truck. Most customers are able to drive their vehicles to the repair shop, but now those with non-compliant cars won’t be able to come to the repair shop at all.

He said: “We physically have to see the non-compliant vehicle, which means it’s not a case of the customer just finding another way to come to us.

“That customer is now no longer a customer. There is nothing I can do within my power to make them a customer again. So, through this legislation, I have lost every single customer with a car from a 15 plate and before.”

Mr Paton is currently sitting on thousands of pounds worth of parts that were ordered for existing jobs he can no longer carry out after June 1.

He said: “I don’t know what we’ll be doing with all the stock.”

Between June 2023 and June 2024, Mr Paton is expecting losses could reach between £1.75 million to £2.25m. The business relies on high turnover with low margins (about 2 per cent) so the losses are set to be catastrophic.

He said: “If we don’t get anything from the council, we’re probably not going to see out the next two years. And that’s no exaggeration.”

When Mr Paton was first made aware of Phase 2 of the LEZ, he took extensive measures to make sure his business was compliant, including helping staff members update their own vehicles.

The company’s fleet of 35 courtesy vehicles and three recovery trucks was updated to meet emission standards and staff were able to use company resources and interest-free loans to acquire compliant cars.

He claims that during the consultation process, his business was not adequately notified or contacted directly, and the first letter he ever received was in February 2023, almost a year on from the objection deadline of January 20, 2022.

It was only then he realised that despite operations being compliant, the new legislation would ‘chop an entire part of the market’ from the shop. His request for an exemption from the council was denied.

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council says that since the LEZ was announced in 2018 "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".

They added: “Practical, targeted assistance from the Scottish Government to help prepare those most affected by the introduction of LEZs in Scotland, has since 2019 included funding for households and micro-businesses, and a separate retrofit fund including support for taxi drivers.

“Indicative LEZ signage was installed around the zone boundary in 2018 to raise early awareness. This was replaced with statutory signage and road markings on all entry points, including on the M8 motorway at the end of last year.

“There have been two LEZ consultations, in 2020 and 2021 – both of which were publicised across a variety of platforms, with the most recent consultation specifically seeking feedback on the Phase 2 design proposals, with almost 3000 responses received."

The results of the public consultation in 2021 revealed that "half (51%) opposed Glasgow's LEZ overall, with opposition tending to be strong" and "views on proposals were mixed, with more tending to disagree than agree with the proposals".

The final submission document states that following the consultation feedback, "no changes were proposed to those other elements of the scheme which are at the discretion of the Council".

Mr Paton said: “It just feels like it’s been poorly thought out and we’re left in a horrible position because of it.

“Millions of pounds of revenue down. The overhead in here is massive. If we lose that work without the ability to replace it with other work that is compliant, there’s no guarantee we’re going to be here.

“We’ve been here over 60 years in Townhead, repairing vehicles, training apprentices, employing local staff, helping the community.

“We just feel like the council has completely let us down.”

New boundary proposed by business owners (Image: New boundary proposed by business owners)

Four nearby car dealerships including Henrys Skoda are also facing huge losses due to the LEZ.

Together with Paton Auto Repair, they proposed a new boundary that would potentially save their businesses, but it was rejected by the council.

Mr Paton said: “Between the five of us, it’s 250 potential jobs at risk here. And these aren’t part-time, two-shift-a-week jobs.

“These are full-time jobs, along with skilled tradesmen, and a lot of apprenticeships being trained.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “The area covered by the LEZ boundary involved a number of decisions including observed and predicted pollution levels, relative traffic levels, predicted improvements in pollution, operational and enforcement factors and potential adverse impacts from redirected or parking traffic.

"Feedback was sought at both consultations before the preferred boundary was determined and the entire LEZ scheme subject to an official objection period."