Labour Ramps Up The War Against The British Motorist
Motorists are facing fresh restrictions as councils prepare to implement Labour’s ‘net zero’ transport drive
Under revised legal guidance published by the Government, councils have been ordered to stop planning roads based on traffic and to establish “hierarchies”, with cars at the bottom.
The statutory guidance aims to discourage car use in favour of ‘greener’ alternatives such as public transport, walking or cycling.
The move is the latest measure targeting motorists in the name of ‘net zero’. Critics say it will squeeze drivers and increase congestion.
The revision also links local transport funding from central government to councils’ compliance with certain guidelines.
Richard Holden MP, the shadow transport secretary, accused the Government of launching a “relentless war on motorists”, adding:
“Labour is blackmailing councils to force through net zero and anti-motorist measures. Councils should have a choice, be able to listen to local people on what they want their communities to look like.
“If they want more bike lanes and pedestrianisation, fine. But Labour’s approach of withholding funding and forced guidance is a sledgehammer to democracy.”
The guidance says that councils should “move away from the ‘predict and provide’ model of transport planning, which aimed to forecast vehicle and transport need and then provide capacity to suit”.
Instead, council officials in charge of transport planning are told to adopt a “vision-led” approach which involves “prioritizing and maximizing sustainable transport”.
According to the guidance, published by the Department for Transport (DfT), officials planning public roads should:
“…establish hierarchies of different road users for different types of roads. For roads identified as streets, the road user hierarchy should broadly align with hierarchies set out in the MfS [Manual for Streets], which prioritizes consideration of the needs of people walking and wheeling, followed by cyclists, public transport and so on to private motor traffic.”
Councils are instructed to “report on the carbon emissions of their local transport projects”, with the guidance stating that their central government funding will be linked to this.
A transport industry source told The Telegraph that the new guidance would be “another burden on councils” and would “encourage them to do crackers stuff, like low-traffic neighbourhoods [LTNs].”
They added that the guidance was “progressing a London-centric consensus approach to how transport should work – which is a real pain in the neck if you are in a rural area trying to get around”.
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