By Roger Harrabin
• Three quarters of all SUVs sold in the UK are registered to people living in towns and cities
• The largest SUVs are most popular in three London boroughs – Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Westminster• One in three new private cars bought in these areas is a large SUV. These boroughs also top the league for popularity of most polluting cars by UK sales volume, all of which are SUVs• The most likely large SUV to be owned by a city driver is the Lexus NX300“Shameful”: BBC “perpetuated falsehoods” in divisive low traffic neighbourhood report | road.cc
A Labour peer who is a patron of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling and Walking says that a BBC News report yesterday on low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) ignored evidence and “perpetuated concerning falsehoods.” Lord Berkeley also said that in the report, the broadcaster had “embarked on its own journey to stir up a manufactured culture war.”He made the accusations in a letter sent today to David Jordan, the BBC’s Director of Editorial Policy and Standards following the broadcast of the report, which was widely condemned on social media as “one-sided”, as we reported on our live blog yesterday.
The report included Ealing Central & Acton Labour MP Rupa Huq – whose constituency lies in the London Borough of Ealing, and who has been a vocal critic of LTNs being rolled out by the Labour controlled council –insisting that they were a more contentious issue than “air strikes on Syria, Brexit and coronavirus.”Call for more cycle lanes as pandemic sees huge surge in bike use | HeraldScotland
By Helen McArdleThe number of people cycling more than doubled in some parts of Scotland last year as lockdown restrictions led to a drop in road traffic and growing safety confidence.
Campaigners are now calling for increased investment in infrastructure such as designated cycle lanes to sustain the increase and encourage more people swap their cars for commuting by bike.
According to data gathered by Cycling Scotland’s nationwide network of 47 automatic cycle counters, there were 47 per cent more cycling journeys recorded overall between March 23 2020 and March 22 2021, compared to the same period in 2019-2020.
In Girvan, Callander and Dunoon, the number of bike rides rose by more than 100% over the year.Rewilding our cities: beauty, biodiversity and the biophilic cities movement The Guardian
Buildings covered in plants do more than just make the cityscape attractive – they contribute to human wellbeing and action on climate changeAmanda Sturgeon Sun 4 Apr 2021
Our cities are dominated by glass-faced edifices that overheat like greenhouses then guzzle energy to cool down. Instead, we could have buildings that are intimately connected to the living systems that have evolved with us, that celebrate the human-nature connection that is central to our wellbeing.
As more of us in Australia live in urban areas and our cities grow, bringing nature into our cities is a key part of establishing and rebuilding that connection. As well as bringing beauty into urban environments, we know that people are healthier when they are connected to nature. Research also shows that crime rates decrease in areas with street trees and that property values increase.
Nature knows how to manage flooding and weather events and is more adaptable than many of our engineered systems, yet we refuse to learn from it. As we grapple with changing the way that we live due to climate change, we have an opportunity to learn from both the natural systems and Indigenous cultures that have mastered managing and supporting the diversity of Australia for thousands of years.New driving laws that will come into force in April – oxfordmail.co.uk
A number of new driving laws will be coming into effect this month impacting the lives of motoris across England.
Most of the confirmed and proposed changes relate in some way to making driving more environmentally friendly, whether that be by increasing the cost of maintaining an inefficient vehicle or discouraging car journeys in urban spaces.
Welcome news in the age of the climate crisis, but what exactly is likely to change in April?
Here are the confirmed and proposed law changes that will affect drivers.Paris : la pérennisation des coronapistes commencera cet été – francebleu.fr
La peinture et les plots jaunes qui ont envahi les rues de Paris depuis le déconfinement vont peu à peu disparaître. La pérennisation des “coronapistes” va débuter cet été avec un premier chantier avenue de la République, a annoncé mercredi sur France Bleu Paris David Belliard, l’adjoint à la maire de Paris en charge notamment de la transformation de l’espace public, des transports et des mobilités.
Un peu plus de 60 km de pistes cyclables temporaires ont vu le jour dans la capitale pour faciliter les déplacements à vélo durant la crise sanitaire. Elles seront toutes pérennisées, conformément à ce qu’avait annoncé Anne Hidalgo en septembre dernier. Les travaux vont s’étaler sur deux ans, jusqu’en 2022. Ils commenceront au mois de juillet sur l’avenue de la République, qui deviendra la première piste pérennisée.Women ‘feel much safer’ at night in Oxford’s LTNs | Oxford Mail
Eirian Jane ProsserWomen feel safer with new LTNs
A NUMBER of women have come out in support of the divisive new Low Traffic Neighbourhood scheme (LTNs), claiming they fear less for their personal safety with fewer cars on the roads.
When the LTN scheme was introduced last month to areas in Cowley and Florence Park, some residents argued that women may feel unsafe walking around quieter streets, particularly in light of the Sarah Everard case.
Since then, however, women who live in LTN zones have come forward to say they feel no less safe with reduced traffic on the road – and some claim the quieter streets actually make them feel more confident going out alone.
Read also: ‘I’m a survivor not a victim’: Woman tells her story of sexual assault
Ruth Ballantyne, from Florence Park, said she now feels safer as a result of the LTNs.
She said: “I always disliked walking past Florence Park at night before the LTNs existed.
“However, whilst the streets were quiet enough for me to feel unsafe, they weren’t quiet enough for me to dare to cycle.
“Now I now feel safe enough to cycle, which will actually make me feel much safer at night.”
The LTNs were introduced in the area by Oxfordshire County Council as part of a six-month trial.Low Traffic Neighbourhoods Local Zero: pathway to #COP26 – Apple Podcasts Preview
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods Local Zero: pathway to #COP2
Social Sciences
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) almost always encounter anger and resistance – but are shown to cut driving and increase walking and cycling where they are introduced.
Leo Murray from the climate change charity Possible
Jon Burke, who introduced LTNs during his time as a Hackney council cabinet member, join the team.
Brenda Puech, who turned an on-road parking space into a mini park or ‘parklet’.More pedestrianisation touted for central London after Covid – transportxtra.com
06 April 2021
A permanent shift to home working sparked by Covid-19, will put tens of thousands of jobs in central London at risk with knock-on implications for travel demand, a report for the Greater London Authority says.
“The absence of office workers and visitors in central London puts jobs in retail, food and beverage, and entertainment (including arts and culture), at significant risk,” says the report by consultant Arup, real estate advisors Gerald Eve, and the London School of Economics.
The report focuses on London’s ‘central activities zone’ and considered three possible scenarios for how its economy could change after Covid and also in response to Brexit.
The scenarios make different assumptions about the number of people who will return to offices, ranging from 40 to 80 per cent.
In all three scenarios more than 90,000 jobs are judged to be at risk in sectors such as food and beverage, retail, entertainment, plus cleaners, catering and security staff.
“The entire central activities zone ecosystem is under threat because of the risk to London’s thriving arts, culture, entertainment and hospitality industries” say the authors.Convicted Gateshead rapist breaches driving ban for 33rd time – chroniclelive.co.uk
Sara Nichol 4 Apr 2021
Kevin Hordon told a court he ‘couldn’t promise’ he wouldn’t get back behind the wheel, despite receiving yet another disqualification
A convicted rapist has avoided being sent back to prison after he breached his driving ban for the 33rd time.
Kevin Hordon told a court “I just love driving” and he “couldn’t promise” he wouldn’t get back behind the wheel, despite receiving yet another disqualification.
The 47-year-old has repeatedly flouted his driving bans over a number of years and has served time in jail in the past.
But Hordon once again proved he had failed to learn his lesson when he was caught in his Audi A3 on Armstrong Road, in Benwell, Newcastle, in February last year.