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Petition Number: P-06-1349
Petition title: No '15' or whatever minute Cities or Towns in Wales without holding a public poll.
Text of petition: Those who believe these 'fluffy words' are sealing your own fate if you believe this isn't imprisonment! Once the infrastructure (barriers, cameras, new warders etc) are in place and the fines start dropping through the door- THAT WILL BE TOO LATE! The next stage of our enslavement takes place - Health IDs, digital currency, electric cars, electric homes all of which can be controlled be the flick of a switch. Stan Says:- Lipstick on a Pig. Make no mistake about it - Those who believe these 'fluffy words' are sealing your own fate if you believe this isn't imprisonment! It may not have fences or prison bars YET but how do you move around (FREELY) when (AT FIRST) your Council creates these zones but fixes no penalties - AND MEARLY STATES 'It's only guidance'!!
I can see a whole raft of people going along with it - Saying 'See nothing to worry about'! Once the infrastructure (barriers, cameras, new warders etc) are in place and the fines start dropping through the door- THAT WILL BE TO LATE! The best stage of our enslavement takes place - digital currency, electric cars, electric homes all of which can be controlled be the flick of a switch. Good Citizen heat, food and limited travel. Questioning Citizen.. Everyone needs to resist this totalitarianism no matter how fluffy and colourful the gumph is. https://tcpa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/final_20mnguide-compressed.pdf
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The Town and Country Planning Association sets out that:
The idea of ’20 minute neighbourhoods’ – sometimes called by other names, such as ’15 minute cities’ – has been gaining momentum for several years and is already being implemented in places such as Melbourne and Paris.
The concept is to create neighbourhoods where people can meet their everyday needs within a short walk or cycle. Sustrans highlights that:
An important objective of the 20-minute neighbourhood concept is to better align spatial and urban planning (i.e. what is in an area) with transport planning (transport infrastructure), to make it easier for people to walk, cycle and use public transport.
News headlines and plans in Oxford
The concept recently made news headlines linked to plans in Oxford.
Oxford City Council is in the process of developing a new Local Plan (the English equivalent of a Local Development Plan). The Council has published preferred options for the new plan and has identified a series of ‘overarching threads’ – one of which is the concept of a 15 minute city “ensuring that local residents have access to all their daily needs within a 15 minute walk of their home”.
At the same time as the City Council consulting on these plans, Oxfordshire County Council agreed to trial the use of ‘traffic filters’ to create low traffic neighbourhoods and prevent private cars entering certain parts of the city. This led to speculation on social media that the city would be divided into areas with physical barriers preventing people moving from one neighbourhood to another.
In response, the City and County Councils issued a joint statement to explain the policies and address the speculation.
Local governments in other English cities including Bristol, and Sheffield have also proposed introducing elements of a 15-minute city.
Planning policy in Wales
The concept in its own right is not currently an adopted national planning policy in Wales – however national planning policy places a focus on reducing car dependency and creating neighbourhoods where services are located closer to where people live.
Planning Policy Wales (PPW), the Welsh Government’s national planning policy, includes “national sustainable placemaking outcomes” which “should be used to inform the preparation of development plans and the assessment of development proposals”. These outcomes include that places are “accessible by means of active travel and public transport”, are “not car dependent” and have “community based facilities and services”.
In his letter to the Chair dated 9 August 2023, the Deputy Minister for Climate Change says:
…the Welsh Government has no plans to introduce ‘15-minute cities’ in Wales.
The Deputy Minister also highlights the Wales Transport Strategy (WTS). The WTS outlines the Welsh Government’s vision for an “accessible, sustainable and efficient transport system”. The strategy identifies three priorities to achieve this vision, one of which is to “bring services to people in order to reduce the need to travel”.
However, in his letter the Deputy Minister suggests:
…this doesn’t mean preventing travel, or restricting freedom, it means planning ahead for better physical and digital connectivity and supporting access to more local services - including more home and remote working.
In June 2022, Janet Finch-Saunders MS tabled a written question asking how the Welsh Government is embedding “the 20-minute neighbourhood concept into local and national planning policy”.
In her response the Minister for Climate Change highlighted that policies in PPW “promote the development of compact and walkable places as part of a wider commitment to placemaking”.
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