Never let it be said that our outgoing chair, Nigel Williams, didn't make his presence felt in the past. This 30 year old cutting reveals how, as Transport spokesperson for North Staffs Friends of the Earth, he believed that traffic congestion and road safety could be improved in the run up to the 21st century. It seems that not much has changed since then but Nigel was speaking with some experience of the infrastructures he was calling for, having lived for several years in Sheffield when the bus service was second to none and a cross-county fare was 10p for an adult (and 2p for a child). The result was low levels of traffic congestion, speedier journeys into town and most families giving up second cars - great for decarbonisation, although that wasn't the issue then. That of course was dependent on having an efficient subsidised bus service (South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive) run by councils that not only had the political will to improve public transport but also the finance to afford it.
This year’s holiday season in the Peak District National Park may be in sight but a solution to one of its biggest problems seems further away than ever. As more and more people visit the Park, the number of car journeys is climbing relentlessly, with consequent pressure on roads, the availability of parking spaces in villages and last, but certainly not least, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. MCA knows from conversations with the National Park at Board level that trying to encourage the availability and use of public transport and reverse the relentless tide of cars is a priority. We also know that they have struggled to get meaningful engagement on the subject with elected representatives on the Staffordshire side of the Park borders.
In our last article on green transport possibilities in the Moorlands, we focused on community buses, electric bikes, active transport and car sharing schemes. However, there is another serious possibility - increased use of electric cars, which has had little traction in the this area so far. More than likely that is due to motorists’ “range anxiety”, a legitimate concern, especially to those of us who live in rural areas. The good news is that moves are afoot to dramatically increase the number of EV charging points in the UK, with Ofgem planning to build infrastructure for 3,550 new ultra-rapid charging points on motorways and in towns, as well as investing in upgrading Britain’s electricity grids.
There are lots of metaphors for lack of progress in the world of travel, such as ‘stuck in the mud’ and ‘up shit creek without a paddle’. No doubt ‘attached to the bank of the Suez Canal’ will become another. This will resonate with MCA members concerned to reduce our travel carbon footprint in the Moorlands – lots of interest, lots of ideas but apparently no coherent plan and definite uncertainty about the roles of different levels of government. At SMDC level even the promising topic of electric vehicles has been moved from their Travel and Transport working group to that of Energy, although that’s no reason that we in MCA’s Transport group can’t continue to push for its promotion.
20 is Plenty has been operating in North Staffordshire since 2012 and now they are coming to the Moorlands. This campaign has gained momentum because residents want the freedom to choose how they travel and 20mph on our streets brings that choice. People, particularly the elderly, fear the intimidation from high speeds on residential streets and in town and village centres. Here are some good reasons for adopting a 20mph speed limit for such streets in our Moorlands towns:
Although The MCA Travel and Transport group has not had any formal meetings, some MCA members have been active behind the scenes. In particular attending the meetings of the SMDC Travel and Transport Subcommittee, which has been set up to feed ideas to the main SMDC Climate Emergency Committee (CEC). The SMDC Travel and Transport sub-Committee is chaired by Councillor Keith Flunder and has been attended by mainly Conservative councillors, along with Cllr Garry Bentley (Cheadle West, Independent) Cllr Ian Waite (Horton Parish, Green) and usually with 2 or 3 members of MCA. Interestingly, according to my notes, no Labour or Lib Dem Councillors have attended any of the meetings! This has meant that the committee is dominated by Conservative councillors which can make it difficult to get our views across.