Like life in slow lane? UK’S first car-free town could be for you

PLANS to build the UK’S first “car-free community” have been unveiled, as one council proposes to build a 4,000home neighbourhood accessible only to pedestrians or bikes.

The 140-acre site, on the eastern side of Portsmouth Harbour, is home to an MOD firing range, two boating clubs and a school.

The pioneering plans could create the UK’S first “curbless” neighbourhood, where cars are banned from the streets and instead parked in a vast underground car park.

The underground space could also be used for waste disposal, eradicating bins from blighting the streets.

Portsmouth city council, which is behind the £1billion plans, said it could be a “beacon for the whole of Portsmouth and the rest of the country”.

The proposals have been sent for planning permission and will go to public consultation in the new year.

If planning permission is awarded work could begin in 2023.

The decision to remove cars from the community, known as Tipner West, follows the decision to charge drivers of older lorries, taxis and buses when entering Portsmouth, in an attempt to tackle the city’s poor air quality.

The Government has told Portsmouth council it must build 18,000 homes in the densely populated city. It is hoped this development will go some way to achieving this target.

Cllr Darren Sanders, the cabinet member for housing, said: “People want to live in communities, not concrete. That is why we want to see not just an area people want to live in, but a place that will have as little impact as possible on the climate and air pollution crisis the city faces.

“We want this to be an example that future developments in Portsmouth will follow.”

Development plans for Tipner West have been shown to developers who said they have “never seen anything like it”.