AJJewsbury:

- including reversing the traditional planning and land use zoning systems to get the places people need to often travel between physically much closer together - then encouraging non-motorized transport (walking, cycling), much improved public transport of course, then electrifying where they can the vehicles that remain. It's very early days still, but you might have noticed some of the policies having an effect already - fewer out-of-town supermarkets get permission these days, so there's an increase in "local" stores, road space reallocation away from cars towards bikes and pedestrians, 


    - Andy.

Louvain la Neuve in Belgium is an interesting example of this. Built in the 1970s as a university town the centre is pedestrians and bikes only. The railway station and car parking is hidden away underground.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvain-la-Neuve

Monday morning I drove down the Heads of the Valleys road in South Wales, the part that is completed is a joy to drive along, although having said that the whole journey is a pleasure once you get off the M5. 


Whilst driving and parking are being restricted in many places there are actually some really good new and improved roads being built along with new filling stations, I went into a brand new filling station today, complete with the  obligatory Greggs counter and Costa vending machine as well as the mini supermarket.


Andy B

We should not forget the £30 billion + Vat that the government currently get from the road usage tax, sorry fuel duty. What is going to fill the gap?


Locally the centre of the local city is filling up with cafes, pubs, clubs and resturants to replace shops and the parking is expensive. The few people that live in the centre complain about the late night noise. Meanwhile the three out of town retail/entertainment parks appear to be doing well but you really need a car to get there as all the public transport is geared to getting you to/from the centre of the city. Most people I talk to do not bother with the city centre as there is a limited range of shops and the cost of parking. I  see reports that changes are proposed to the planning laws to allow easier change of use in town centres to encourage a better mix of housing/retail/offices but I have to think it is too late. 


So whether or not the energy infrastructure will cope is perhaps not the biggest problem. Certainly locally the provision of shops, medical facilities, roads, power and sewage facilities are very far down the list when planning is given for new estates. Many are in relatively rural locations again requiring most people to have cars to get anywhere.


I currently have a field and stables so perhaps I should be planning to get  horse again ?? Although I do live next door to a substation and my low Ze may give me some "priority" when compared to others if I can ever afford an electric vehicle. Though the  way that I am going it will be a mobility scooter. 

Andy B



I have to ask before someone else does but did your brand new filling station and the head of the valley have vehicle charging points in addition to the Greggs, Costa and mini supermarket?

I am not sure if there are any at the garage, EV bays were on the plan, as was a cycle rack which is an obvious addition to a petrol filling station. I cannot say I noticed either. It does have a Edmundsons on the other side of the road.


Driving down to Wales I passed close by to four branches of Screwfix and they have better signage than any EV charging points, I did not notice any EV charging poits advertised or signed at all.


EV drivers must be members of a exclusive society with insider knowledge regarding the location of charging points.


The Asda car park in Worcester has two charging points listed on the internet 1 x  3kW 13A  3-Square pin and 1 x  7kW 32A  Type 2 Menneke, there is a £70 penalty charge if your vehicle is in the car park for more than three hours, so how much use can those charging points be  to an EV driver?


Andy Betteridge.

Looking at Zap map it seems you have to leave the main road and go to a supermarket or pub to find an EV charging point.


Andy B.

Why not air the problems properly, for example Bristol, where I live.


The City was green capital of Europe in 2015, and to get this has been made nonsense of transport. All of the traffic lights are phased to hold up traffic, and bus and cycle lanes make almost all roads to the City centre one lane only. Mostly both of these "green lanes" are unused, cyclists preferring to ride (illegally) on the pavements and even in the lane without lights at night wearing black Lycra. The council spent £240 million building a "Metrobus" system to speed journeys, which unfortunately is so badly planned that most of it runs on roads without bus lanes and buses being an hour late is normal, and usually full up as well. The standard buses are often cancelled and mostly 15-20 years old so not very good from a pollution point of view, and the council has announced a low emissions zone which covers all the vehicles on the M32 going to the city centre, with no way of avoiding huge charges! Bus fares are considerably higher than London, and don't mention the car parking charges anywhere near the City centre! Of course there is little provision for vehicle charging, perhaps 2 or 3 each in the large car parks. The LEZ is to reduce pollution from all the stationary vehicles held up by the traffic lights and resulting jams.


Talk about zero planning or intelligence by the council, perhaps they own the traffic light manufacturers as they keep adding more, in some places one set every 100 metres, all not phased up. West into London is fantastic by comparison, it shows that the systems are there, just not used, presumably deliberately. There is relatively poor footfall in the city centre shops, and the Council wonders why!!!