Congratulations!

Some LAs used to ask for 10% or more carbon savings over and above (or under and below, but you see what I mean) bog-standard Bldg Regs levels on Housing Renewal schemes. The problem was that some developers would rather add SWH or PV than improve insulation or air-tightness.

Asking volume housebuilders to agree to invasive random sample testing (and get them to pay for 3rd party reports) of their products could be a good start.

I'll come back when I can think of something which has a chance of happening!

Posted By: Nick ParsonsAsking volume housebuilders to agree to invasive random sample testing (and get them to pay for 3rd party reports) of their products could be a good start.

+1
But do the builders have to agree to the random inspections up front or is it enough to tell them that random inspections will happen.

Over here all new build has to show a minimum of 20% renewable energy use, easy if it is all electric (our grid is now 20% renewable (includes nuclear)). but more challenging if you want to install a gas combi.

And yes our grid is struggling to cope with electricity demand and domestic PV

Oh and congrats to bogal2

We just elected the first Green majority council (with my vote) so I'll be interested to see what it is possible for them to do differently now they're finally in control. Bringing back a bus service to our village would make a good start personally.

edit: coincidentally there's a story about it: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-65557814

Thanks for those details. It'll be interesting to see what happens in our more rural environment. The Greens haven't updated their website since the elections :( and all I can find about their priorities is:

1 to make it easier to live healthier lives, whether through better walking and cycling provision, access to green spaces and healthy food

2 to ensure housing is available for all needs, is well insulated and residents have easy access to local employment and services

3 to achieve a zero carbon future for all, enhancing biodiversity and supporting renewable energy.

Which seems woolly enough

Yes, great about Suffolk getting the first Green majority council. Lyon sounds like its doing well. Its hard to know where to start and what you can achieve as 2 greens on a council. Id like to start with trying to getting some locking cycle storage facilities at train stations. Cycling infrastructure could be a lot better in Chester, but look at the backlash from the cycle lanes that got removed after 5 months a couple of years ago- Id get lynched if I tried to get all that done Philedge- although I quite agree with it!

Posted By: bogal2Id like to start with trying to getting some locking cycle storage facilities at train stations. Cycling infrastructure could be a lot better in Chester, but look at the backlash from the cycle lanes that got removed after 5 months a couple of years ago- Id get lynched if I tried to get all that done

Isn't there a load of bike storage inside the station already?? You have to put the infrastructure in place to get people to the station in the first place.

I dont know which cycle lanes got abandoned unless you mean the bus lanes?? The problem is people wont transition to bikes unless the infrastructure is there first. It has to be properly laid out and funded then left in place for years to give people time to think it over and make the right choice. At the same time dissuade them from driving with pollution levies and unfavourable infrastructure.

Posted By: ArtiglioThe whole concept of cycle lanes is effectively irrelevant, the future will be something like scooters, but as they’re effectively illegal there’s a problem.

I think more of a problem is the number of accidents and fatalities associated with e-scooters. And not all with them being knocked off by cars as is more normal with bikes (or by guided buses if you're in Cambridge )

Local councillors are elected by generally a very small portion of the local electorate

The turnout here was 37%. I don't call that very small. Low turnout is a warning sign that the electorate don't like the council/government.

The school run alone is a minefield.

I never understand the school run. What's wrong with walking or cycling to school? Or taking a bus or train if it's further. I certainly agree that a better way to reduce car usage is to make it safe enough and with enough public transport that people don't need to use their cars. Only then might it be sensible to start to penalise car driving.

Posted By: djhThanks for those details. It'll be interesting to see what happens in our more rural environment.

I'm now in a Neighbourhood Plan group alongside councillors for my very rural area. What has been both eye-opening and depressing is the realisation that the town is totally dependent on cars and vans.

We are essentially a service town for the nearest big city, so most people are self-employed tradespeople who drive to work and have a work vehicle as well as a personal one. As a result the local pressure is to provide more parking spaces as a minimum than the maximums already defined by the Local Plan, because what works in the city just doesn't reflect reality around here.

I do a combination of bus and cycle to work, but the bus system has been effectively destroyed through shareholder profit-extraction and the roads are all very steep hills and dominated by HGV's.

I'm resigned to my 1.5 hr commute because the other aspects of my life, job and location outweigh the dire commute, but I fear that until we clear some of these big hurdles around protected bike lanes and reliable & affordable public transport, we aren't going to win many hearts and minds to a lower carbon lifestyle.

Does anyone know if there are good traffic engineer consultancies out there that aren't tied to the Highways Agency groupthink? I'd love to persuade my town that the busy A-road that currently severs our town centre into tiny pieces should be re-routed in favour of more pedestrianised streets, but it would take some decent statistical traffic-flow analysis to prove that to the powers that be.

Djh - the school run is another victim of the internet and social media, i live near to 5 schools , the kids are glued to their phones, no way they can ride a bike or scooter , without a massive accident rate. They either walk ignorant of the world around them , use a bus/ train or get driven. People are basically lazy and arguably too well off, so the school run is the answer for too many.
Scooters are here to stay, the accident rate will increase, all because it’s going to become the local personal transport of the future. They’re a menace round here, makes the pavements lethal for pedestrians and use the roads when it suits them, with not a care in the world, i’ve yet to see any interest in the illegal use by the police. It’s only a matter of time until they are seen as being “bikes” in the eyes of legislation.

Posted By: djhYou mean building a ring road, or something more complicated? I'm not sure what analysis you think is needed?

The town was historically divided up by two old railway lines which are now A-roads leading to bigger towns in the North, East and West. As a result, what was the heart of the town is very much bisected by routes to other places and most people only experience it as a through-town to get elsewhere.

I think that removing some of the mini roundabouts in lieu of a different type of junction, and (more controversially) pedestrianising the route marked in yellow, would at least allow a big chunk of the town centre to be walkable, safe, and viable for business, albeit still ringed by busy roads.

However, at present even the slightest roadworks etc. leads to long traffic delays and irate drivers so it would need some clever thinking and traffic management to avoid displacing the issues elsewhere. I completely understand that in Highways lore the roundabout is the most efficient way to maximise throughput.

Of course, to quote Jan Gehl "you get what you invite" and so if you make it easy to drive through a town then that's what people will do by default.

A complete bypass/ring road would probably be terrible too, because it does need passing trade. However I'm fairly sure that at least 80% of the current car traffic is not carrying people who even stop in the town or use the shops. They are just using the roads to get elsewhere.

This isn't a unique problem, but it does highlight the issues faced by a lot of small rural towns that have become enslaved to through traffic.

@bogal2 thanks for the suggestion of Sustrans (and apologies for slightly hijacking your thread!).

I've also subsequently found out about Telraam, which is a nice citizen-powered approach to monitoring local traffic modes and publishing the data openly.
https://www.telraam.net/en/what-is-telraam