15 minute cities: The green dream is a dystopian nightmare, says Martin Daubney

According to a YouGov poll published yesterday, 15 minute neighbourhoods – where all essential amenities are within a 15 minute walk for everyone living in the area – are supported by 62 per cent of Brits, who’s happily see their community turned into one (57 per cent of Tory and 73 per cent of Labour voters).

Dreamt up in 2016 by lefty Parisian urbanist Carlos Moreno – who’s treated like the Messiah at COP climate change conferences – on paper, what’s not to like?

Bus stops, post boxes, chemists, GPs, parks, schools, shops, nurseries, dentists, banks – all within a short stroll?

Cleaner, safer, quieter streets, where locals live in harmony?

All that's missing are ATMs that churn out free money and a pub that dishes up free beer and grub. Where do I sign up!?

But, of course, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

And that’s why the ghastly concept of 15 minute neighbourhoods sticks in my craw.

Because, like every green policy in history, it’s hard-working mugs like us that pay for it.

Be warned: they’re coming to a town near you.

Some have already crept into place, under cover of COVID lockdowns. Several local governments including Bristol, Birmingham, Canterbury, Ipswich and Sheffield want to implement a 15-minute city plans. Oxford plans to be a fully functioning 15-minute city by 2040.

Most of the councils expressing interest in the idea are run by Labour. And they’re on the verge of getting into power.

The concept of living, walking or cycling in an area restricted to 15 minutes might sit well in metropolitan la-la land, where the sorts of policy twonks who dream up this guff live.

It might appeal to the pyjama-clad, work-from-homers sipping on another latte, or workshy public sector bureaucrats.

Meanwhile, in the real world, and especially in the suburbs or rural areas – a daily grind of school runs, commutes, dying high streets, costly trains, or non-existent buses – it’s a folly.

But convenience is only half the story. The other is control. Here, Utopia descends into dystopia.

Policy quacks spin the yarn that 15 minute neighbourhoods are “safer, quieter, more diverse, inclusive and economically vibrant”. But how will this be achieved?

A giveaway on the Smart Transport policy forum is this: “Reducing car use and encouraging active travel are central to delivering the 15-minute vision” as is “improving air quality” via – you guessed it, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, ULEZ or Clean Air Schemes.

And there we have it.

The mask slips: 15 minute neighbourhoods – just like Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ, Mark Drakeford’s ludicrous blanket 20mph limit and every infernal “clean air” initiative in Christendom – are about fleecing motorists. It’s taxation, dressed as salvation.

It's politicians and policy makers posturing as holier-than-thou, while cooking up new ways to pick your pockets.

In their nightmarish world, saving the planet will cost you a packet.

All those CCTV cameras won’t pay for themselves! For sure, endless CCTV cameras will make sure you comply with “ze rules!”

Next, take this endless surveillance a stage further. Perhaps 'good' citizens in 15 minute neighbourhoods will be encouraged to sign up for a local or government app, that can track your every movement.

Or your every purchase, your vaccine status, your energy use (and thus your carbon footprint), or even the people you hang out with?

Thus, we can see that 15 minute neighbourhoods could easily become the thin end of a Chinese-style social credit system.

In Blighty as in China, might that social credit be used to gauge your trustworthiness?

Your employability? Tut-tut, you’ve exceeded your recommended carbon allowance this week.

Thought about walking more? You’ve exceeded the recommended mileage allowance this year. Your foreign holiday will incur an additional carbon tax.

You’ve been eating rather too many take-aways and red meat this month. It might impact your life insurance policy.

In future lockdowns – new COVID variants, a new virus, or perhaps even a ‘climate lockdown’ to stop citizens travelling or polluting during 'climate emergencies' – you’d be tracked and traced without even realising.

Your gas or water could be regulated in times of shortages. All that smart technology in your shiny new electric vehicle? Might it be used to stop you leaving your designated area?

If all of this sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory, bear in mind, just a short while ago, politicians, the BBC – and puce-faced media organs like Piers Morgan – were demanding we had a COVID passport just to go for a pint.

Moreover, it’s certain to happen.

In February, Oxford council announced it will chop the town into six 15 minute neighbourhoods.

People can drive freely around their own neighbourhood – but will need to apply for a permit to drive through the filters, and into other neighbourhoods, for up to 100 days per year. A maximum of three permits a household will be allowed where there are several adults with cars registered to the address.

In response, over 2,000 anti-15-minute city demonstrators took to the streets of Oxford to protest.

A decision on Oxford’s use of 15-minute cities is due on November 29, but Duncan Enright, Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for travel and development strategy told the Sunday Times: “It's going to happen definitely”.

In London, the Blade Runners have destroyed hundreds of Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ cameras. If there’s any justice, his eco zealotry will see him kicked out of office as London Mayor next May.

So YouGov can tell us that almost 2/3rds of Brits like the idea of 15 minute neighbourhoods.

But, like ULEZ, or petrol car or gas boiler bans, or £15,000 heat pumps, wait until the Great British public realises the true cost to them.

Then, the 15 minute neighbourhoods will be run out of town.