Canterbury congestion plans scrapped by council

The plan would have seen Canterbury split into zones

A controversial traffic management scheme which was to split Canterbury into zones, with driving across their borders banned, has been scrapped under a revised local plan.

The Labour-Liberal Democrat administration has officially ditched the plan, which had been put forward by the city council's previous Conservative-led administration.

Rachel Carnac, the new leader of the Conservative opposition in Canterbury, backed the review, saying the zoning scheme had been "hugely unpopular".

She previously said it was one of the main reasons for the party's defeat.

The new plan includes earmarking land for thousands of homes.

Lib Dem councillor Alex Ricketts told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the new plan was “bus passes not bypasses”.

He said the council planned to secure more bus services for the district’s rural villages.

“Through the infrastructure improvements we hope to encourage the bus companies to run through more routes,” he said.

Labour council leader Alan Baldock said: “I just hope this local plan shapes a district that our residents can be proud of and their children can grow up in, and it’s a place they’re really glad to live in."