COMMUTERS should start seeing private car travel as “a last resort”, according to new recommendations into how the city can combat climate change.

The Leeds Climate Change Jury was set up following Leeds City Council’s climate emergency declaration last year, and saw 25 members of the public meet to discuss what Leeds needed to do to help tackle climate change, while listening to academic experts in the field.

The group has now sent a report containing 11 recommendations back to the Council, among which were the introduction of an Oyster card-style universal public transport payment system, the retro-fitting of houses to be energy efficient and investment funds to encourage green industry.

The report included a statement, which was written by a group of jury members and was approved by the rest of the members.

Council 'needs to create environment where people feel they can ditch cars'

It read: “Climate change is not someone else’s problem. It won’t go away or get better if we ignore it. We are facing a climate change emergency – immediate and urgent action is required.

“Everyone – from Leeds City Council, individuals, politicians, businesses, community groups, and other organisations – has their part to play.

“Every action counts. We are a diverse group, unified in our passion to resolve this issue. We have had the opportunity to challenge our own and each other’s preconceptions.

“We have concluded that we are at a crisis point. We believe our recommendations can make Leeds a better place to live as well as addressing climate change.

“We don’t have all the answers but we hope that our recommendations will go some way towards tackling the problem. Leeds led the world in the industrial revolution – we believe the city can now lead an environmental revolution.”

The recommendations were ranked in a voting system among climate jury members. The most popular measure, receiving 20 of 21 votes that were cast, involved introducing measures to encourage motorists to leave their cars at home.

It read: “We recommend that extensive positive action is taken to make the use of private cars a last resort for transportation. As a priority, bus provision should be taken back within public control.”

Other measures suggested in the recommendation included safe cycle lanes, increased pedestrian areas, a congestion charge and a “united public transport fare system e.g. Oyster card.”

Receiving 17 votes, a recommendation on housing read: “All existing housing must be made energy efficient – housing must be retrofitted.

“We recommend that Leeds City Council enables communities to come together and insulate their homes and transition to greener energy sources via locally organised social enterprises. This would encourage sharing skills and teaching people to be more green.”

Receiving 15 votes was a recommendation on making it easier for people to invest in green business and industry, as well as making it easier for greener companies to access finance.

The report added that nine of the jury members believed the planned expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport was “not compatible” with zero-carbon targets, and that flying should be discouraged by introducing a frequent flyer tax and “advertising holidays in the UK rather than abroad”.

The recommendations will be discussed at Leeds City Council’s climate change advisory committee on Monday, January 13.