The other evening, I was involved in one of the worst traffic jams I’ve ever witnessed in Glasgow city centre.
I’ll spare you the details (other people’s travel woes are rarely fascinating) but the outline is this: a narrow junction, too many buses, some badly parked cars and an awful lot of angry beeping.
The irony did not go over my head. Today marks one year since the introduction of the city’s LEZ (Low Emission Zone), a move that was meant to improve Glasgow city centre, yet is rapidly turning it into a disaster zone.
In April, Stuart Patrick, CEO of the city’s Chamber of Commerce, revealed that footfall in the city centre had been poor in the run-up to last Christmas, and that in January and February a shocking 200,000 fewer people visited than in the same period last year.
As Glasgow nightclub owner Donald MacLeod recently told the Mail: ‘Footfall has fallen off a cliff.’
The Low Emission Zone in Edinburgh which will be introduced this weekend
He added that in some parts of the city centre, boarded-up units outnumber those still in operation.
‘The hospitality sector has also been ravaged, with pubs, restaurants and clubs closing at an alarming rate,’ he said.
Already dealing with the cost of living crisis and the fallout from the pandemic, many retailers and hospitality businesses are struggling to keep their heads above water.
LEZs have had the devastating impact of deterring people from coming into the city centre at all, instead choosing to shop online, and dine locally.
As someone who works in Glasgow city centre, I’ve seen this with my own eyes. Several times I’ve trotted out at lunchtime and noticed a new To Let sign above a shop or a restaurant, the city itself appearing careworn and downtrodden.
There was a time around ten years ago when it really seemed on the rise.
There was a buzz about the place and it had a vitality about it. Those days seem far behind us.
Meanwhile, the city council has raked in more than £1million in fines imposed on those breaking the rules – which it has promised to spend on ‘urban greening’.
But it would not be outrageous to suggest that businesses have lost a lot more than that in the past 365 days.
So why is there still traffic congestion when, in theory, there should be fewer vehicles in the centre?
For that we must turn again to ‘urban greening’ and the Avenues projects – multi-million-pound schemes which are ripping up important motorist routes and turning them into bus lanes or cycle expressways.
The spot I was stuck in for 15 minutes the other night was once a one-way street never used by buses.
Now it’s two-way, and so many buses wheel around its tight corner that cars at the traffic lights regularly have to reverse backwards to let them through.
Meanwhile, 40 per cent of the council’s own vehicles are not yet LEZ compliant. And don’t get me started on the dangerous delivery cyclists that now swarm the city.
All in all, it’s not a fantastic advert for LEZs, particularly for the three cities – Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh – which will all see them introduced starting this weekend.
Given the state of the place, I’d much rather see the fines invested into rejuvenating the businesses that have suffered.
They are, after all, the lifeblood of the city centre.
And if there are none left, one of the finest cities in Britain will become little more than a wasteland.
Kylie Minogue has racked up £30m in wine sales
Kylie celebrates her £30m bubbly
Talk about a happy birthday for Kylie Minogue.
Marking her 56th birthday this week (56? How to make the rest of us feel old…), the pop singer revealed she has racked up another £30million in wine sales.
Cheers, Kylie!
Her bestselling rosé, as well as her rosé prosecco, are both reasonably priced, come in a pretty bottle and are really rather nice.
No wonder my local supermarket is always running out.
The tragic deaths of experienced climber Tom Parry and his 12-year-old son Richie in Glen Coe this week are devastating.
Mr Parry’s wife Gemma described herself as ‘heartbroken’ after their bodies were found following an extensive search involving police and mountain rescue teams.
It is a sad reminder that even at this time of year, when you have all the right kit and a lot of expertise, hiking in this beautiful country of ours can still be treacherous.
Sturgeon’s double talk over dual carriageway
Nicola Sturgeon has apologised for the SNP’s failure to upgrade the A9, Scotland’s most dangerous road.
Despite pledging to fully dual the road – which claimed 13 lives in 2022 – by 2025, most of it languishes unfinished and the project will not be completed until 2035.
‘I am sorry we haven’t dualled the A9 and I regret that,’ Sturgeon said this week. Cold comfort, I’m afraid, for those who have lost loved ones.
Michael Matheson was found guilty of breaching rules
Yet again, a shameful case of party over country
I suppose none of us should really be surprised that John Swinney opted to back disgraced former Cabinet minister Michael Matheson over his suspension.
Still, it’s disappointing from a First Minister who seems determined to put party over country (wasn’t it always thus with the SNP?).
A damning report by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body into the iPad scandal – in which Matheson, pictured, tried to charge taxpayers for an £11,000 data bill racked up during a family holiday to Morocco – found him guilty of multiple breaches of the rules.
Holyrood’s standards committee recommended a £10,936 salary fine and a 27-day suspension. Swinney, however, in his infinite wisdom, defended his friend and claimed the process was ‘prejudiced’.
By what? The truth? If anyone in the corporate world was caught doing something similar, they’d be given their marching orders.
Matheson and his pal Swinney should be grateful the man still has a job at all.
King Charles has ordered an official Balmoral tartan
Intrigued to learn that King Charles has commissioned Scots textile designer Araminta Birse-Stewart to create an official tartan for Balmoral, the Royal Family’s home.
The only surprise – particularly given the late Queen’s fondness for all things plaid – is that there isn’t one already.
General election campaigns always take a bit of time to get going, especially when they’ve been sprung, last-minute, on an unsuspecting populus.
Still, it does rather appear that the parties have yet to set the heather alight.
Indeed, apart from Ed Davey – apparently deliberately – falling into Lake Windermere, it all feels a bit lacklustre.
No wonder only four in ten voters have so far made up their minds. Let’s hope it heats up in the coming weeks.
