AS I’VE said before it is very hard to get a sensible discussion on transport when people are making such ridiculous and irrelevant statements in your letters page.

The latest comes from Chris Gould claiming motorists pay more than double their share in taxes (Argus Letters, 28 July).

However, he conveniently ignores the huge costs motoring places on society, such as on the NHS, emergency services and shortening people’s lives, to name a few.

In challenging Jim Grozier about obesity (Argus Letters, 3 August), he creates a straw man, a typical tactic of the pro-motoring, anti-people lobby, castigating him for implying all motorists were obese, when Mr Grozier said no such thing (Argus Letters, 30 August).

Mr Grozier merely stated what many health professionals are saying: to tackle obesity we need to get people out of cars.

Given we have one of the highest obesity rates in Europe this is perfectly reasonable.

Mr Gould’s calculation on road space efficiency is also nonsense. A Transport for London study has shown bike lanes can be five times more efficient at moving people than vehicle traffic lanes.

As for claims by John Armstrong that he didn’t see many cyclists on his trip to south London (Argus letter, 27 July) it’s a bit like saying you can’t see any wildlife in the Amazon forest after you’ve cut it down.

I doubt that there was a safe network of cycle infrastructure for any, let alone the whole of his journey. Therefore, it’s of little surprise he saw few people cycling.

Unfortunately, Mr Gould and Mr Armstrong are amongst the vocal minority whose dated approach is holding us back from a cleaner, healthier and happier society. Numerous polls since lockdown have shown people want to build back better, to have less noise and air pollution and to have other ways of getting around other than driving.

Let’s not forget that the silent majority at the last local elections voted for the Labour and Green manifestos both of which pledged to take all action required to make the city carbon neutral by 2030.

Given we need to see road traffic reduction levels of somewhere between 20 – 60 % in order to make this a reality, we need to see more road space being given to people walking, cycling and using public transport. As the vocal minority try to prevent progress, I trust councillors will remember the platform they stood on at the last election and deliver the change so

desperately needed.

Chris Todd

Planning & transport campaigner

Brighton & Hove Friends of the Earth