Canterbury’s new zone plan faces heavy criticism

Criticism is being cast upon Canterbury City Council’s plan to split the city into different sectors which would stop residents from driving between newly planned zones.

This plan would help alleviate traffic around Canterbury, which currently has an issue with becoming gridlocked, and also help reduce carbon emissions from idling cars.

Around rush hour, congestion can build up heavily with very slow-moving vehicles throughout the main road along with surrounding roads.

The plan was announced back in October as part of the council’s local plan draft and has since faced a barrage of criticism since its announcement.

Although the sound of reducing traffic jams sounds desirable, Canterbury residents and more are concerned about losing their free movement around the city.

One Twitter user said: “I work in Canterbury. I will have to go through four zones a day to get my work van to work as a minimum as I live within the city limits. Plus any more I will need to travel through to go to jobs.”

The plan has even garnered the attention of former UKIP leader and Brexit advocate Nigel Farage, who lived in North Kent calling it a ‘climate change lockdown’.

Councillor Ben Fitter-Harding, Conservative Leader for Canterbury City Council, responded to Farage outlining his reasoning of why he thinks the plans are beneficial.

Hi Nigel. This proposal is about solving Canterbury’s crippling congestion problem; improving journey times, creating safer, healthier neighbourhoods. Our medieval city was never designed for cars. What’s the problem with fixing that please?

— Ben Fitter-Harding (@benfitter) December 7, 2022

A consultation is being held online for residents to make their opinion known to the council and closes on Monday 16 January 2023.

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