Blue and Green

It is remarkable how quickly the reduction in road traffic in the current emergency has cleared the air. Even places like Skewen, not far from woods and green fields anyway, has seen bluer skies than any time since probably the petrol rationing following the Suez adventure. At night, we have been able to see clear views of the stars and planets only normally available to people in places like mid-Wales with dark skies. Given a glimpse of what a Britain free of photo-chemical haze can be like, it would be a shame to deny it to our children and grandchildren.

All of a sudden, what appeared to be draconian measures to force non-electric vehicles off our roads now seem rather dilatory. Norway, wisely investing its windfall wealth from oil and gas, is already at least 10% electric in respect of all cars on the road.

The boom in cycling shows that folk are taking matters in their own hands (or feet). Those continental nations which incorporated cycle lanes into the reconstruction of their cities after the world war have been shown to be more far-sighted than they knew. Those of us who are less mobile than we used to be bemoan the fact that our local authorities (with honourable exceptions, like the New Towns) went the other way, as we dodge squads of young people on bikes on already too-narrow footways. It is ironic that the cycle-lane to nowhere outside Port Talbot Parkway station was not extended, but removed as part of the piazza project just before the Covid-19 lock-down hit.