Drive to slash car use viewed as ‘ heroic or potty’, says councillor

A DRIVE to dramatically cut car use in West Yorkshire could be described as either “heroic” or “potty”, a councillor has said.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority has set a target of being “net zero” for carbon production by 2038.

As part of that scheme the authority has set some eye- catching targets, including reducing car journeys by 21 per cent, increasing walking by 78 per cent and increasing cycling by 2,000 per cent.

It also plans for the sale of petrol and diesel cars to end by 2030, or 2035 at the latest.

The plans were discussed at a virtual meeting of the authority’s transport committee, where members debated how realistic the targets were. The authority is made up of Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees councils and is responsible for major transport and infrastructure projects.

The targets were set in response to the authority declaring a climate emergency, and vowing to do much more to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Referring to those plans, Leeds Conservative councillor Neil Buckley, representing Alwoodley, said: “Some of the assumptions about private cars and petrol and diesel ending by 2035 are, you could say they are heroic, or you could say they are potty.”

Committee chair Kim Groves said: “They are heroic targets to get more cars off the road, but we should all be determined to find a way to achieve that.

“They are huge targets, but it is crucial we get this right.”