We all know the world is changing but what do we need to do to survive the changes?

No one on here will demand you give up your gas guzzling car or your foreign holidays but we do hope you will be encouraged to use the large car less and seek alternatives.

There are many ways to help solve the transport problems and building more roads is part of the solution but equally in the mix is the planning designs of towns and whilst many are "of the older designs" you can in part where new developments spring up change the ethos of the town.

Take for instance a new housing developement is being planned in your town. It will be about 100 dwellings of mixed build but of higher end prices. All dwellings will probably have a large double garage and between 2-4 cars per family.

The developement will have access to established bus and cycle routes.

This might be a standard developement  but where planning can influence environmental change is that you do not build garages on houses. Think about the senario where you can have a car but the developement has no trafficed roads. Cars are parked in secure areas on the outskirts of the developement. The houses are all linked to the garage areas by clean well light footpaths and cycle paths. The secure parking area also doubles as a transport hub and has direct links to buses.

In this developement people will  have to leave their homes and walk or cycle to their cars. This will enable people to gain exercise, be seen by other members of the community and also reduce the house to car to work to car to home  way we operate now. When you walk or cycle you see a lot more, crime and anti social behaviour is reduced or non existant as there is always "someone around". You will notice if the old lady next door or 4 doors down hasn't opened the curtains on time or has the newspaper still in the letterbox when she doesn't normally. You will see more and be morealert and active when you get to your place of employment etc.

Local small shops would benefit by passing trade and people would not need to do the large weekly food shop or worse still "the monthly shop". People will be more inclined to get involved in local comunity actions because it is THEIR comunity.

Eventually people will realise that the local links to the schools, shops and other parts of the town are serviced by clean busses, well lit and safe footpaths and eventually they will not need a car. The main stumbling block to this idea is entrenched short thinking small minded planning officials who don't have the courage to look at alternatives to the gas guzzling cars.

We will bring more ideas on this and other theories soon.