Guardian investigation finds 17 MPs, candidates or associations took out 50 ads criticising a clean air zone
Niamh McIntyre
Conservative councillors, MPs and local associations have vocally opposed measures to clean up air pollution, often in opposition to government policy, a Guardian investigation has found.
Transport decarbonisation is one of the government’s “priority action areas” at the upcoming Cop26 global climate talks. However, cities in the UK have been slow to adopt clean air zones, schemes that deter the use of older, more polluting vehicles and incentivise cleaner forms of transport. Only three cities currently operate a CAZ.
There are 25 council areas covered by clean air zone proposals that also have more than one Conservative councillor. Tory councillors opposed schemes in about half of these (13).
It takes more than words and ambition: Here’s why your city isn’t a lush, green oasis yet – City Monitor
The idea of transforming cities from concrete jungles to urban forests is a popular one. But has your city actually turned into a lush oasis yet? No, neither has ours.
By Thami Croeser and Georgia Garrard and Sarah Bekessy 02 Aug 2021 (Last Updated 4 Aug 2021)
There have been some truly inspiring, exemplar projects in recent years. The transformation of a Seoul freeway to Cheonggyecheon parkland, exposing the historical river that once flowed there, is one celebrated example.
Projects like this are commendable, as urban nature has considerable benefits including, for instance, improving mental health and boosting urban biodiversity.
Our new research looked at what’s holding back greening in our cities. And we found the issue is often internal – cities just aren’t really set up to deliver their plans. Fortunately, this is a very fixable problem.
‘Reclaim the Road’ #FriendsofTheEarth protest that took place in #TrafalgarSquare in the late 1970’s – Twitter
‘Reclaim the Road’ #FriendsofTheEarth protest that took place in #TrafalgarSquare in the late 1970’s. We’ve been campaigning for change for decades, with Sustrans officially forming in 1979.
© David Sproxton @friends_earth
Annie Kenney: Manchester’s forgotten suffragette who was arrested 13 times – inews
As people go to the polls all over the United Kingdom, many will remember the sacrifices of the suffragettes who helped win women the vote.
A working-class woman from Greater Manchester, Kenney was arrested in 1905 after heckling a Liberal politician on the issue of women’s suffrage.
Fix our failing road justice laws – Cycling UK
Cycling UK is calling on the Government to fix our failing traffic laws by amending the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament but we need your help.
As well as calling for a full review of traffic offences, the proposals include changes which would:
• Stop drivers routinely avoiding a driving ban after accruing 12 penalty points by claiming it would cause them ‘exceptional hardship’.
• Create a new offence for serious hit and runs, where a driver knows or ought to know someone has been seriously or fatally injured.
Why are the UK’s trains so expensive? – City Monitor
Fares have increased by a fifth in real terms since privatisation, along with demand for rail travel.
Jonny Ball
The price of British rail travel is a near-constant bugbear of daily commuters and occasional passengers alike. It’s not uncommon for travel between Britain’s largest cities to be cheaper by flight than by train. At the time of writing, a one-way ticket from London to Edinburgh, purchased on the day of travel, costs £126. The same one-way journey by plane, also purchased on the day, costs just £83.
In many cities, it is becoming too hot to work – City Monitor
By Patrick Scott 13 Aug 2021 (Last Updated 16 Aug 2021)
Heatwaves around the world are becoming more severe and more frequent, at a pace that surprises even climate scientists. Few expected the cities of Portland and Seattle, in the US’s temperate north-west, to experience sustained temperatures of well above 40°C this year. Cities are particularly susceptible to such weather events: highly built-up areas can absorb and retain more heat, sustaining temperatures that become dangerous to public health and do serious economic damage.
Carless Cities Around the World Wean Citizens From Automobiles – Bloomberg
Car-Crazy Milan Erupted Over a New Pedestrian Zone
August 31, 2021
Marc Herman and Paul Tullis
The city built the tiny park in just a few weeks last autumn, at an estimated cost of €20,000 ($23,600). The strip of land had been a right-turn lane at the intersection of busy Via Sardegna and four residential streets, jammed every morning with honking commuters and every afternoon with parents double-parked to pick up their kids from school. Now, with cars forced to divert around the piazza, one of Milan’s myriad traffic nightmares has become a place where children play soccer, food delivery riders perch on their bikes awaiting calls, and residents of nearby apartment blocks face off at the pingpong table.
Killer drivers given ‘joke’ sentences but that might be about to change – Liverpool Echo
Dangerous drivers who kill could soon receive life sentences under a new law
Neil Docking
Killer drivers could soon face life sentences if long-awaited new legislation is finally approved.
The punishments for the worst examples of dangerous driving have long caused outrage across Merseyside.
Three cases this past month infuriated ECHO readers, many of whom took to social media to brand the length of the prison sentences a “joke”.
The way we travel around cities has changed: Now is the time for bike-sharing schemes to flourish – City Monitor
Caroline Seton
London was once crisscrossed by trams. Before the Second World War, tramlines ran from one side of the city to the other. With the exception of Croydon, the trams are all gone. But why did London abandon its network of zero-emissions electric trams?
During the post-war recovery, trams were seen as a relic and policymakers wanted to encourage London’s denizens to adopt private cars that were seen as a symbol of freedom. With the benefit of hindsight, those decisions made in the 1940s and ’50s represent a historic mistake. As we reach another historical juncture – making our way tentatively out of the pandemic – it’s important to highlight that the decisions that we make now about our cities will have long-term consequences.
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