Net-zero traffic critics branded ‘conspiracy theorists’

CRITICS of a net-zero traffic scheme have been branded “conspiracy theorists” in a bizarre council video.

Town hall chiefs attempted to defend a £6.5million trial in Oxford that will create six “climate zones” by prioritising cyclists and buses on inner-city roads.

From 2024, car drivers in Oxford must apply for a permit to travel through the “traffic filters” for a maximum of 100 days a year, or 25 days a year if they live elsewhere in the county.

ANPR cameras will ensure they are fined £70 if they use the arterial roads without permits. Thousands of residents have signed petitions and the police have been called in over abuse directed at councillors.

Liz Leffman, the leader of Oxfordshire county council, has now released a video expressing her “extreme disappointment” at the “misinformation” surrounding the net-zero plan, which aims to tackle Oxford’s congestion problem.

Ms Leffman says: “These conspiracy theories are causing real-world harm and need to stop – we have been receiving many calls and emails from worried residents in genuine fear that they might be locked in their own homes.”

The video cuts to Duncan Enright, the council’s cabinet member for travel, who says “they are not steel walls or electronic gates, they are simply traffic cameras that can read number plates”.

Mr Enright stresses in the video that the filter trial will not “stop people from visiting loved ones”, as they can, for instance, use the ring road to access other suburbs.