Comment UK September 2008

September 2008

 * Parking plans will mean London congestion chaos, Campaign for Better Transport, September 3 According to CBT, "The Olympics site will be surrounded by vast new parking lots." Car travel to the Games themselves is to be discouraged (at least for spectators) but developments at Stratford and the Lower Lea Valley have planning permission for over 11,000 parking spaces. Thousands more have been built or approved at the Royal Docks just to the south.

Research by Campaign for Better Transport has revealed that car-dependent development will predominate in most if not all of the major development areas of outer London. This includes the Thames Gateway area of east London where the Government has said that it wants low-carbon, sustainable communities to be built. Campaign for Better Transport notes that developments with large car parks are being approved despite policies to reduce the need to travel by car, and to promote walking, cycling and public transport.

"Parking on this scale is more like Los Angeles in the 20th century than London should be in the 21st. If we want to tackle congestion and climate change we will need to be much more serious about controlling parking. These developments are being planned as though people had never heard of global warming. We need much more car-free development where it’s easy to walk and cycle and public transport is close." Richard Bourn, London Campaigner at Campaign for Better Transport. topic

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