Liberal Democrat councillors representing the Northamptonshire town of Towcester have become the latest local politicians in the UK to call for plans to keep HGVs out of their town centre.
In a statement published by the Liberal Democrat’s Kate Nash, Northamptonshire councillor David Tarbun was quoted as saying that major road haulage companies needed to be put under pressure to avoid Towcester.
Fellow Liberal Democrat councillor Lisa Samiotis has also joined in with the bizarre anti-HGV vibe, which has seemingly been spreading faster than the Kent covid variant, claiming lorries cause “disruption and danger”:
“A Clean Air Zone should be introduced now. Towcester town centre has been declared an Air Quality Action Zone for many years. But this hasn’t resulted in any significant actions to improve air quality and the disruption and danger caused by HGVs. Local people deserve a cleaner and greener council, with green policies and positive action.”
The comments from the aforementioned councillors were reportedly inspired by the recent Bath clean air zone, which requires pre-Euro 6 (diesel) and pre-Euro 4 (petrol) HGVs and buses to pay £100 per day to access the city centre.
Towcester is by no means the only place in England on a mission to keep out HGVs. Kent County Council’s strict HGV parking ban has enraged both drivers and hauliers, while Surrey County Council’s plans for a “HGV Watch” scheme isn’t popular with the road transport industry either.
In addition to that, a HGV ban has been implemented in the town of Farnham. Activists in Henley want their town to follow suit too.
Photo credit: Eirian Evans / Geograph UK