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Introduction to Carfree UK by Ed Beale. Slateford Green, Edinburgh. How Carfree UK Started. Founded in January 2006 by 5 people from the UK who had been to the Towards Carfree Cities conferences in Berlin and Budapest.
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Introduction to Carfree UKby Ed Beale Slateford Green, Edinburgh
How Carfree UK Started • Founded in January 2006 by 5 people from the UK who had been to the Towards Carfree Cities conferences in Berlin and Budapest. • Steve Melia, Steve Ward, Ed Beale, Simon Field and Dave Morris were the founding committee, since joined by Anzir Boodoo, Martin Cassini and Rory McMullan. • Carfree UK joined World Carfree Network at the Tabor meeting in May 2006.
Carfree UK's Mission • To promote Carfree housingdevelopments to the following groups: • Local government planning authorities • Developers • Housing associations • The general public • To campaign on specific sites where the conditions are favourable for a carfree housing development.
The UK Situation • 26% of UK households have no car (2001), 35% of households in London are carfree. • Since 1989 there is new planning guidance: • Minimum 60% of new developments to be on previously developed (“brownfield”) land – now 72% • Minimum density 30 houses per hectare. • Maximum parking allowances for new developments, instead of previous minimums
Why Government Policy doesn't have the desired effect • The desired effects of these government policies are: • To reduce the amount of green field land built on • To reduce traffic • Whilst it meets the first objective quite well, the second is not so succesful – in practice doubling density only reduces per-capita traffic by 7% - because car ownership and use is not restricted. So local area traffic is worse.
Carfree has Benefits for Everyone • A solution to the problem of traffic caused by building denser housing is to build carfree. • Benefits for Everyone: • Developers can build more housing units on their land, without expensive underground parking • Planning Authorities show commitment to sustainable development policies and avoid worsening traffic • Residents get cheaper houses and higher quality community space including for children's play
Carfree UK – Our Activities • Presentation given to Bristol City Council introducing carfree housing and its benefits. • Discussions with developers in London, Plymouth and Bristol to explore the possibility of carfree housing. • Ongoing research into the market for carfree housing in the UK and the reasons why supportive policies not yet fully implemented.
Campaigning on Specific Sites • Sherford, a new town being built using New Urbanist design principles with high quality public transport – suggested carfree area. • Exeter – Working with local traffic reduction action group; carfree housing suggested as one of 5 key ways to reduce city traffic. • Kings Cross, London – Discussions with developers about reducing parking on the site.
Carfree UK – Future Opportunities • One day conference planned for 2008 in conjunction with the University of the West of England. • Funding application for a website to identify the market for carfree housing. • The UK government plans 5 new“zero carbon” eco-towns – CarfreeUK is hoping to influence transport.
Carfree UK – More Information For more information, see our website: http://www.carfree.org.uk/ or email info@carfree.org.uk