Claim that Council sees cars as enemy is described as 'gibberish'

But her call for a more car-centric approach was described as “incoherent gibberish” by a top councillor.

In a motion raised at a Council meeting, Baildon Councillor Debbie Davies (Cons) criticised recent infrastructure plans that aim to reduce traffic in parts of Bradford – including a scheme to pedestrianise Hall Ings.

And she argued a focus on providing facilities for cyclists, and measures to improve bus journey times, was at the expense of car drivers.

The motion read: “For many people, car ownership is an aspiration or a necessity.

"However good public transport can be, it will never take you from door to door and you cannot use it to transport more equipment, shopping etc. than you can carry.

"People can’t rely on trains and buses due to strike action, unreliable services or cuts to services.

Call for political leaders to scrap plans to widen road between Shipley and Bradford

"Not everybody is confident about riding a bike on the roads or in all weathers and it’s difficult or impossible to carry children and pets.”

She urged the Council to “stop seeing cars as the enemy” and “instead think of all road users" when planning new road schemes or changes to the current road network.

Her motion called for the Council to “learn from mistakes in the past where bus lanes have been introduced and then reverted to lanes for motorists.

“To ensure that cyclists are safely segregated from motorists by using off road routes e.g. wider pavements with space for cyclists and pedestrians, off road cycle ways and  making better use of towpaths and disused railway lines.”

Cllr Davies said: “We seem to have a strategy of spending millions of pounds to make driving to the city centre an inconvenience.

“We want to see schemes that support all road users.

“Of course we want to encourage more people to cycle, but schemes in place are dangerous to both cyclists and motorists.”

She referred to a scheme on Wakefield Road that has seen a car lane blocked off to create a new cycle lane.

Cllr Davies added: “Car ownership is not going to go away. People like the flexibility it provides. Cycling isn’t going to suit everyone.

“I propose we look at the way funding is allocated.”

Referring to the recent decision to adopt “Vision Zero” – a scheme that aims to reduce road casualties to zero, she said: “We need to be realistic, fatal accidents will always happen.

“Plans like the one to remove traffic from Hall Ings doesn’t remove traffic, it just moves it elsewhere.”

She also criticised a plan to demolish the NCP car park on Hall Ings, pointing out that it will remove 500 parking spaces at a time when Bradford is expected to welcome City of Culture visitors and punters to the new Bradford Live.

The motion was greeted with criticism from other parties.

Councillor Kevin Warnes (Green, Shipley) acknowledged that cycling and public transport was not as convenient as car travel on some occasions, but added: “The main problem motorists face is other motorists.

“We try and cram too many vehicles onto our roads.

“I’d also point out that a lot of car owners are also cyclists, and use public transport.”

Councillor Alex Ross Shaw, Executive for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “When I saw the Conservative motion I thought it was a lot of gibberish.

“After that presentation I’ll now update that to incomprehensible gibberish.

“This way of thinking is not even supported by your Conservative government.

“The Highway Code, hardly a leftist political document, gives pedestrians and cyclists top priority because they are the most vulnerable road users.

“You can’t talk about the highway network without acknowledging the huge impact of road safety.”

He said some road safety schemes may inconvenience drivers, but improve pedestrian safety.

Cllr Ross Shaw pointed out that the Council had recently spent tens of thousands of pounds funding pedestrian crossing schemes in Baildon, Cllr Davies’ ward. Addressing her he said: “Did you think those schemes were an attack on car drivers?

“If you give all road space to cars you push off other users, and this flies in the face of what your own Government are looking for.”

He said the Council had invested in electric car charging points, and was the first Council in the country to require all new homes to include EV charging points.

A Labour amendment to the Tory motion was proposed, and approved by the Council.

It read: “While car ownership is an aspiration or necessity for some people, many others cannot afford one. Whatever their reason, residents should not have to rely on owning a car to get around.”

It called for the Council to “continue thinking of all road users when planning transport and public realm schemes” and “continue developing a network of bus lanes and segregated cycleways across the district.”