News from Elsewhere

The organisation was set up in January as part of the Government’s £2bn commitment for cycling and walking during this parliament. ATE will be responsible for awarding funding to projects that improve both health and air quality.

The ‘Tyre Extinguishers’, a UK-based climate protest group, said in a statement to 1News that “concerned residents” were behind the deflated tyres in Sandringham.
They said that was “the first action in a new wave of climate protest in New Zealand”.
The group declined an interview for “security reasons”.
Following a number of social media reports, 1News was able to confirm on Friday that two vehicles in the same Auckland street were targetted by Tyre Extinguisher-inspired activists.

It was a beautiful evening in my neighbourhood, and I was enjoying one of my giant homebrews on a deck chair I had placed in the middle of the street, as part of a nearby block’s Annual Street Party.

I was talking to a couple I had just met, and the topic turned to the beauty of the neighborhood. “Wow, I didn’t even realise this area was here”, the guy said, “It’s beautiful and old and the trees are giant and all of the families hang out together outside as if it were still 1950!”. “Yeah”, said his wife, “We should really move here!”.

Having gone back and forth over the years, the decision as to whether the HS2 rail project will be accompanied by adjacent cycle paths appears to have swung in a positive direction.
Rail Minister Andrew Stephenson is reported to have asked HS2 Ltd about the feasibility of turning up to 320 kilometers of access road to the works into walking and cycling routes that could become an artery feeding towns alongside the route with a coherent active travel route. Should the idea gain full approval the route would become one of the UK’s longest end-to-end cycling arteries.

Energy costs are rising. As one response, the German government is planning to launch a special-offer ticket as part of its support package for bus and rail transport. For just EUR 9, people will be able travel throughout Germany on local/regional transport services for one month during the period of June, July and August.

Benefits for you
• Flat rate: it gives you unlimited travel on local/regional transport services during the selected month

• You can use it to travel all across Germany

• No waiting times, fully mobile: you can also buy it as a mobile phone ticket

DfT wants Britain’s noisiest streets to be testbeds for £300k noise camera technology trials
02 May 2022
A search for Britain’s noisiest streets has been launched by the Department for Transport (DfT), with four areas across England and Wales set to trial technology to help stop rowdy motorists revving their engines unnecessarily or using illegal exhausts. Since the technology is still in its design phase, MPs are being invited to submit applications to trial new innovative noise cameras in their local area, helping to ensure communities can enjoy their public and residential spaces…

Helena Horton
Environmental campaign groups have hit out at the “draconian” protest crackdown bill announced in the Queen’s speech.
The new law appears to be targetted at groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain who have used disruptive methods to draw attention to the climate crisis.
Announcing the bill, Priti Patel said: “As the Queen’s speech outlined, the public order bill backs the police to prevent antisocial protests from disrupting people’s lives.” The home secretary hailed the “new criminal offences for ‘locking on’ and interfering with national infrastructure, and serious disruption prevention orders for reoffenders”.
The new criminalisation of “locking on” is aimed at protesters who handcuff or glue themselves to infrastructure, a favourite tactic of green protest groups. Insulate Britain demonstrators made headlines last year after glueing themselves to major roads, and Extinction Rebellion members have previously handcuffed and glued themselves to trains, causing disruption.