How Dare You Want A Car!
By Paul Homewood
Why does Roger Harrabin hate ordinary British people so much?
Housing developments on former farmland are adding hundreds of thousands of extra car journeys to England’s roads, a report has found.
It says typical new ‘greenfield’ homes are designed around the car – with often three parking spaces per home.
Essential services such as shops, schools and doctors are often almost impossible to reach on foot or by bike.
The government planning department welcomed the report, agreeing new housing should depend less on cars.
The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said last year: “Public transport and active travel (walking and cycling) will be the natural first choice for daily activities.
"We will use our cars less."
But the report from Transport for New Homes – backed by the RAC Foundation – says car dependency is actually getting worse.
Its researchers conducted field visits to 20 new housing developments across England – three years after a previous survey around the country.
They found that greenfield housing has become even more car-based than before. They say the trend for building with the car in mind extended beyond housing, with out-of-town retail, leisure, food outlets and employment orientated around new road systems.
They found that planners and construction firms are building in a style they refer to as ‘car-park to car-park’.
Jenny Raggett from Transport for New Homes, said: “We can’t go on as we have been, building many hundreds of thousands of new homes in places which are not only impossible to serve with sustainable transport, but actually promote more and more travel by car.
“At a time of climate emergency and with a need to cut congestion on our roads, this is not the way we should be building for the future. We have to do things differently.
“Small shops, cafes and businesses built for local living are just not there in most new greenfield estates. Local parks, community halls, playing fields and other amenities that would take people away from looking at their screens and encourage them to get out and walk or cycle, appear often not to have materialised.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60245980
Whenever you see mention of “climate emergency”, you know this is not a serious report, but just another bit of eco-extremist nonsense.
How dare people want to have the freedom to drive where they want, when they want!
But Harrabin would much rather the plebs had to live in big towns and cities where they have to use public transport. And if you have the nerve to buy a house in the countryside, don’t expect access to shops, restaurants and leisure facilities. And forget about getting a decent job further afield.
This was exactly how our forefathers used to live before widespread car ownership liberated us.
Of course, to the Harrabins of the world, who live in the leafy splendour of Hampstead, it is easy to get around town by tube or taxi. To most people outside London, ownership of a car is essential to their lifestyles. This little episode shows how woefully out of touch the BBC is with the lives of ordinary people.
Last time I checked, we still lived in a democracy. The public has never been consulted on any of this eco-nonsense being rammed down our throats, and I’m pretty sure what their reaction would be if they were.
So why are eco-nutters like Transport for New Homes allowed to influence public policy, and why is the BBC giving them so much prominence?
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
We all know what happened to corner shops…. and pubs…..and any small premises not capable of carrying enough stock or stock of sufficient profitability.
My recollection on the planning conditions for a 50 house development in a Worcestershire village was that every house had to have one off-street parking place AND a dedicated shed for a bike – not to be used for anything else!
The village had a shop, church and village hall, plus occasional bus services, but otherwise a car was needed to access any other services, jobs, or entertainment.
Not a bad compromise…
Most District / County Councils have a set of parking requirements for houses. The bike shed always amuses me – especially as most people don’t use their garages for their cars anymore.
My son and his family live on the outskirts of Leamington – a fairly well-off area – on a typical 1930’s estate with, obviously no provision for cars. When you walk around, you see at least 3, sometimes 4 and occasionally 5 vehicles in the driveways. That would be one for mum, one for dad and one each for the children, and a van for dad’s business. The result is that all the front gardens have been concreted over and the area is now constantly subject to flooding – nothing to do with climate change. When folk were parking their four vehicles per household on the grass verges, the council fined them, so they concreted over their drives – hence the flooding. I don’t know what the answer is but certainly each family is allowed each person to “…to have the freedom to drive where they want, when they want!” …or maybe they don’t anymore.
What these Knuts want is for all the plebs to live in a dystopian nightmare edifice modelled on a beehive.
They, naturally, will continue to live in mansions agreeably set in vast leafy paddocks.
When not commuting by diesel Landcruisers, they will probably get a couple of serfs to carry them in a sedan chair.
A serious point and ending in what they would really like to be, sedan chairs and serfdom transport.
“we will use our cars less”. Grant Shaps
Who is this we – paleface?
Does anybody remember “Logan’s Run”, or the Rush track “Red Barchetta”?
Is this what our “betters” want for us?
Yes, both excellent. For a vision of the future I offer 2 classics, Bladerunner and The Fifth Element. Anyone volunteering to live in those future worlds? The trouble with regression is that people can recall how it used to be better whereas you average Middle Ages peasant knew of nothing better – but at least they were living in a Warm Period.
A fine song by the canadian trio! one of my favorites still played often.
Harrabin of course doesn’t own a car and only uses public transport? Hypocritical oaf
“We tried freedom, but it just doesn’t work. People keep making wrong decisions.”
No worries, the politics is settled.
My local Tory scum in Tandridge saw a nice little earner in taxpayer cash from proposing to build a ‘garden village’ of 4000 houses on farmland at South Godstone. A village of 4000 houses you say? The council reside in the town of Oxted that has 4000 houses so it is no village. With lying endemic in the Tory party from the top down, we had a fantasy claim of hundreds of jobs being created that were no more real than the ‘green’ jobs we hear about.
The consultant report highlighted that cars would be the prime transport method and that the road network could not cope. And not just A roads but the M25 at junction 6 which sees long queues to get on and off. There is a railway line that runs past but it is a route Southern would love to drop as the passenger numbers are low. Being a service that stops at lots of stations and does a join/split en route it is very slow. For railway buffs the Redhill to Tonbridge line used to be the route from London to Dover as it can go on to Ashford. Faster services can be had from stations on other routes. While Tandridge say they can improve all of this, they can’t as they not the Highway Authority, or Highways England or Network Rail.
Luckily we threw the Tories out at the last election to replace them with residents councillors so it has ground to a halt.
I don’t think throwing the Tories out had much to do with the District Plan failing inspection, (well almos failedt-its still being debated with the Inspector). The sticking point is – as you say – the M25 junction. How that will be resolved is anyones guess. The problem is that with no District plan and no 5 year land supply then the government can just dictate how many houses Tandridge has to take. They should look what happened to Mid Sussex DC which had to accept way more houses from the Inspector than were in their original plans.
Of course Tandridge has other problems too. Cost saving measures made a few years ago have meant that some senior officers have been given the push due to incompetence. Huge hole in the budget! The independent councillors have been doing surprisingly well, but its an uphill struggle to get it sorted.
Amazing how people who block a District Plan don’t realise that they will lose local control. I saw this happen in my area 10 years ago.
No plan so we will give you one
I see this kind of idiocy here in Aberdeen as well. There’s hundreds of empty properties in the city center but the Council wants to build 500 new homes for social tenants on the northern edge of the city. Assuming any of these folks work I guarantee they’ll be driving to work, buses to far flung suburbs are hardly ever suitable for commuting. As to why there’s empty flats all across Aberdeen, that’s because ours is an oil economy, which is tanking because the government won’t allow further development.
I understand Westhill and Kingswells are pretty joined up now Colin. Is that right? At least the new properties on the Northern edge of the city will get a good view of the wind farm!,!
Not my council. They think it’s 2050 already.
Three parking spaces is about the minimum needed. One each for the couple. One for a trailer or caravan. And one each for any children, not to mention visitors, i.e. other members of the family.
You forgot to include the yacht.
Yachts will only be allowed electric propulsion so probably never get off the pontoon. Try towing the yacht home with your electric car – should be fun.
People who can afford yachts already live in mansions with several hundred yards of own property between the entrance gate and the house.
For the rest of us, one parking space per person in the household is certainly not excessive.
The pressure to build new house,roads, garages and parking spaces is being driven by immigration so stop that and job’s a good un.
But this is what our planning system has insisted on. For 70years our socialists have zoned the country. They wont allow shops and workshops to be mixed in with housing. They are banished to ‘retail parks, business parks, science parks and industrial parks. Try building an estate with offices and workshops dotted in and around the houses. The Socialist planning system with block it. They love faceless mega-lego estates and so do local residents. The nimby locals all protest if you try to build workshops near their houses. Weve got what we asked for – a planned and regulated artificial environment.
One of the reasons why European cities such as Barcelona are so enjoyable to visit is that all types of businesses, retail and housing co-exist. The city never dies at night when all the commuters return to their lookalike suburban boxes.
African cities are even better. There is actually parking and “guardians” who find you a space near all those different types of businesses.
Stop immigration… interesting idea, though when you realise it is part of the EU objective to flood the UK with migrants you start to see a bigger picture and why France et al do nothing to halt the flow. Despite the sad state of affairs currently with the Government, Boris getting us out of the EU and retaining some democracy is a plus. The Nazi’s of Europe have been subtly eating away at democracy since the second World war and successive UK governments have lied and used subterfuge to con the electorate. The likes of Heath and Blair are liars and have basically committed treason. Now we have the ‘climate’ fabrication, despite our hard won democracy the lib/con/lab triumvirate all push the same ‘green’ tosh, who do you vote for?
The evil automobile is next.
Cycling and walking everywhere is great for lots of reasons, however, unless you live in Norfolk or Holland its got setbacks, here in Wales or Scotland its not so easy!
Practical and pragmatic government is what dreams are made of, dream on!
ha ha ha ha!!! The quasi-dictators can’t tell their a*ses from their elbows!! So, one dept is saying we must all go electric and have a charging point in our drives for the new car; and the other says, you don’t need cars!!
And only useful idiots like Harrabin would be prepared to go for it (but not for himself, I’ll bet).
A car = freedom, a motorcycle even more so, except when it rains.
These eco controllers simply do not understand how busy families work. They mostly do not have the time to get bicycles out when its dark and raining and they’ve got to cart maybe 30lbs of shopping back home or walk 2 1/2 miles down a busy unlit lane to take their child to gym class. Families don’t spend £35,000 on a car for nothing. And lets face it these cars are not running 24 hours a day. 20mins is probably more typical.
The point is that they are running when they are actually needed. Compare that with public transport trundling around because there _might_ be passengers. Public transport and bicycles have their place, but are certainly not practical for every possible type of journey. But cars are.
>>cars not running 24 hours
The other problem with eco-controllers is that they think people _only_ travel for the infamous “commute” at fixed times of day. They also seem to think that such commutes are short distances.
And all these commutes are in and out of London, as the rest of the country doesn’t exist for these champagne socialists
Round here the roads round here are clogged with parents picking up their little darlings. Always amusing me how many sit in their cars with engines idling to keep warm.
How does the BBC get away with quoting from one tiny activist group and having no comments or rebuttals from the many, many people with different views? It’s pure propaganda for a minority.
And how on Earth can we all live within walking distance of a doctor? And have they ever considered who goes to doctors? It’s not the well or the young. It’s usually the elderly and the sick. They can’t walk or cycle. Utter stupidity.
Phoenix44, on the money as usual. Well done! After 3 cancer operations on my left leg, I cannot cycle or walk too far. Very pleased to have a blue badge for my car!
The ‘Green View’ of the world is clouded by the proverbial ‘Rose Colored Glasses’. I live in Vancouver. Land is limited by mountains on all sides. Local Politicians describe Vancouver as ‘The Greenest City in Canada’. Green policies abound. New houses MUST be rated R30 – 8″ walls. Very expensive and Very difficult to accomplish. Meanwhile 26 story towers for condos and office buildings with glass sheer walls are being approved at a rapid pace with ‘Triple-Glazed’ thermo-pane windows . . . R9 at best when they are new.
These buildings are built with concrete and steel,14.5% of Global CO2 demand. Infrastructure below ground to supply water & sewer, Electricity, gas and drainage must be upgraded using industrial diesel powered machinery to dig, covered by crushed rock and then re-paved. None of this goes into ‘The Big Picture’ analysis. Nor do they consider that at best, there is a 50 year life cycle of all of this infrastructure for the buildings. The concrete begins to decay after 30 years and declines in strength after 50.
High powered sub-terrain transformers, power grid expansion habitat destruction, radiation from power lines and transformers . . . ALL get ignored . . . by efficiency and ‘community living’ goals. Costs of public infrastructure . . . busses, bridges, subways, labor and long term maintenance NEVER get considered in our ‘Fairy Tale’ World . . .
Nothing is ever as it seems . . . at first glance . . . too bad our public advisors, politicians and our Media haven’t got a lick of common sense . . .
My thoughts . . .
“Harrabin would much rather the plebs had to live in big towns and cities”. He’s just one useful idiot. It is the WEF and their Reset that requires us to live in cities where nothing we need is more than a 15 minute walk away. Hence driving us [sic] of the roads with vastly expensive and mostly impractical electric vehicles.
Recently our local train services were put semipermanently onto the public holiday timetable because so few people are using trains.
That’s because of Covid, and unpalatable masking and quarantine requirements. No one wants to get locked down in quarantine for a week or more because they were in contact with someone infectious on a train or a bus.
And in places like New York the muggings and attacks due to zero bail policies and police defunding also inhibits people from using public transport.
Maybe Harrabin could comment of such things, but I doubt he’ll risk tackling sacred cows of the Left.