RENEWED calls for traffic reduction measures have been made in Ulverston after improved air quality levels during lockdown.

Environmental groups have made a joint call for a ‘traffic-free town centre’ instead of the planned one-way pedestrian system discussed last week.

“We should be controlling traffic, not the way people walk,” says a joint statement from XR Furness and Clean Air for Ulverston.

“There would be no problem in keeping our distance if traffic was banned from the town centre every day, as it is on Thursdays and Saturdays, so we can walk in the road.

“Town centres should be for people, not cars.”

But not everyone agrees. Cllr Norman Bishop-Rowe, who favours removing traffic lights in the town to tackle air pollution, is opposed to the idea of a car ban.

“Do you want a drawbridge?" he said, commenting on the proposal.

"Because that’s what a traffic ban would be tantamount to.

“This is an ancient market town - there are no service roads around it. If a car ban is introduced, the town will just die.

“There are a lot of grocery and other service deliveries serving this area. What would the town’s elderly population do if cars were suddenly banned from Ulverston?

“Most drivers aren’t people from the town so they just travel on through.

“The town centre is relatively pollution-free. It’s the A590 that’s the main source of air pollution around here. A freer flow of traffic through the town would be the solution - closer interlinking to keep a flow through. There are around half a dozen sets of traffic lights in Ulverston at the moment. I know one family living on Canal Street who have considered relocating to Egypt because they can’t handle the pollution.”