Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
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emilykerr36.bsky.social
Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
@emilykerr36.bsky.social
9.9K followers 3K following 1.8K posts
Oxford City Councillor, Green Party, UK. Loves cycling, trees, circular fashion, car-sharing, local business, community initiatives.
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Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
zackpolanski.bsky.social
Woah. Thanks for all the love!

Huge thanks to The Last Leg, Judi & Grace and all the production crew for making such a brilliant show.

You can watch the whole thing here:

www.channel4.com/programmes/t...
The Last Leg - Series 33 Episode 4
GK Barry, Judi Love and Zack Polanski dissect the week with Adam, Josh and Alex
www.channel4.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
implausibleblog.bsky.social
EU investing €546 billion for high speed rail by 2040

E.g. Lisbon to Warsaw, from 38 hours today to 12 hours

Pricing to compete with low cost flights

Reduce emissions by 80%

Jokes on them, they don't have Brexit sovereignty 🤷‍♂️
November 7, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
rupertairbear.bsky.social
People will stop going to Oxford because of the congestion charge, they told us? 🤔
A screenshot of a news article with the headline 'hundreds queue to get into new Sephora store at Westgate' with a picture of a crowd of people in the shopping centre.
November 7, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
janrosenow.bsky.social
We often forget how far we have come: Today almost 3/4 of EU electricity generation is from non-fossil energy sources.

It is not long ago that fossil fuels dominated the EU's electricity mix.

This year their share is approaching 1/4 of EU electricity generation.

Source is @ember-energy.org
November 7, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
zackpolanski.bsky.social
Here's to hope!

Thanks Vogue!

www.vogue.co.uk/article/zohr...
November 7, 2025 at 5:15 PM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
I am a little late to this, but I have also requested my name and face to be removed from @cyclinguk.bsky.social publicity due to the decision to remove trans women from their awards.

Trans women are women, gender is on a spectrum (and I did a genetics degree), and cycling is for everyone. 🏳️‍⚧️🚲❤️
saskiaheijltjes.bsky.social Saskia Heijltjes @saskiaheijltjes.bsky.social · 5d
Like many others, I am disappointed and angry about the decision by @cyclinguk.bsky.social to change the eligibility criteria for Women in Cycling 2025 to exclude trans women.

Trans women are women 🏳️‍⚧️

I have requested for my name and face to be removed.

www.cyclingweekly.com/news/do-we-n...
'Do we need to exclude people even more?' – Cycling UK's 100 Women in Cycling criticised for not accepting nominations for trans women
Cycling charity say that only biological women can be on list
www.cyclingweekly.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
rantyhighwayman.bsky.social
That's incredibly disappointing and rather spineless.

Trans rights are human rights.
November 7, 2025 at 1:08 PM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Want to see four lovely new SRETs being build on Oxford’s Iffley Road ? Of course you do! Pics below.

A note on SRETs (side road entry treatments). Basically these make roads safer by slowing car drivers down as they turn, using raised platforms and tightening radii (1/2)
New sret with waiting planter New Westbury crescent sret with waiting planter New iffley turn stet New Cornwallis sret
November 7, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Hello bluesky! Are you thinking about heading home on your commute? Here are 12 easy hacks to beat the Congestion Charge. Don't forget to share!
oxfordclarion.uk/twelve-easy-...
Twelve easy hacks to beat Oxford’s congestion charge
Don't want to pay? We got you. Here's the tea on how you can avoid the congestion charge entirely, and still visit all your favourite places in the city centre. Here's the official website, but our ha...
oxfordclarion.uk
November 6, 2025 at 5:15 PM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Someone just shared this with me: 1967, 3,000 publicans marching against introducing breath tests for drivers.

Barbara Castle MP got this introduced and speed limits and seatbelts as mInister for transport, and faced the standard opposition.
A photo of publicans marching against breath tests
November 6, 2025 at 1:45 PM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
So this is cool: @betterstreetsforbirmingham.org has got a coalition of 16 safe streets orgs together to ask for 10 manifesto commitments (which are easy-to-explain) ahead of next May's elections. Best of luck with it guys.
betterstreetsforbirmingham.org Better Streets for Birmingham @betterstreetsforbirmingham.org · 5d
Based on current fatality rates, 106 people will be killed in crashes on Birmingham’s roads during the 2026 to 2030 council term.

We are partnering as an unprecedented coalition of 16 national and local organisations to ask the politicians of tomorrow: Will you make Birmingham’s roads safer?
Will you make Birmingham's roads safer?
Better Streets joins with 15 organisations to make ten asks of tomorrow's politicians to address road safety.
betterstreetsforbirmingham.org
November 6, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
peterstefanovic.bsky.social
UK opts out of flagship fund to protect Amazon and other threatened tropical forests

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
UK opts out of flagship fund to protect Amazon and other threatened tropical forests
Decision is bitter blow to Brazil ahead of fund’s launch at Cop30 – and an embarrassment to Prince William
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:40 AM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Just read the below on Zohran Mamdani, NY's new mayor who actually understands the increasing risks and danger of SUVs and other larger cars on our streets. Fascinating.

Thanks @timmorton2.bsky.social
awalkerinla.bsky.social Alissa Walker @awalkerinla.bsky.social · Jun 26
Two years ago I interviewed a 31-year-old NY state assemblymember about a 7-year-old girl killed by an SUV driver in his district. I hung up the phone, astonished that I'd talked to a legislator who so thoughtfully articulated what actually needs to change on our streets.

He'll make a great mayor
In February, 7-year-old Dolma Naadhun was crossing the intersection of Newtown Road and 45th Street in Astoria with her mother and sister when the driver of a 2021 Ford Explorer blew through a stop sign, striking and killing Dolma. One month later, New York City Department of Transportation commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez visited the crash site with other officials, met with community members demanding a traffic signal be installed, and promised to make changes to the street - including "daylighting" the intersection using curb extensions and plastic bollards. State assemblymember Zohran Mamdani also visited the scene that day and realized that something else needed to change. "When you take a step back and think about traffic violence in New York City," he said, "you start to understand that this is a systemic issue that is incentivized by the policies that we have in place with regard to the design of our streets and what kind of vehicles we allow to be on our roads." Whether a driver runs a stop sign or a red light, statistically, certain cars - namely, bigger SUVs and trucks - are more likely to kill a 7-year-old. This is why Mamdani is co- introducing legislation for a weight-based vehicle-registration fee intended to discourage people from purchasing heavier vehicles. "The car industry is pushing the sale of heavier and larger vehicles," he says. "The state has to make it clear that these types of vehicles come with a certain kind of cost." soar above adult shoulders. But there may be another way to disincentivize the purchases of such vehicles, says Edwards. "One other potential idea would be for someone, maybe a city's DOT, to start keeping a list of the different makes and models of vehicles that are killing pedestrians and cyclists, or kids specifically, and post that publicly," he says. "That could bring awareness to which cars are more dangerous and also potentially affect insurance rates, which would possibly convince people not to buy certain cars." There's a bit of accountability in New York's bill, which would require the State DOT to track all fatal crashes by vehicle weight. But the other encouraging aspect of the proposal is that the collected fees stay local, by county, and, after the annual dedications to highway, bridge, and transit trust funds are met, a full 75 percent of the funds raised will go toward safety improvements like bike lanes, bollards, road diets, pedestrianization of streets, and raised crosswalks. This means the neighborhoods most impacted by large vehicles are likely to see the biggest changes. And that might be the most important part of the legislation, says Mamdani. "This is an initiative to make our streets safer for our children," he says. "And we are making sure a significant portion of this funding goes toward creating the very streetscapes that we know will save their lives."
November 5, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
People talk about public services being decimated, I just pulled out 1975 as a year to look at taxation...1975: The basic rate of income tax35%. Withmultiple higher rates, he top rate on "earned" income was 83%, the top rate on "unearned" (investment) income reached 98% (due to a 15% surcharge).
November 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
From an Oxford bus driver ⬇️
rupertairbear.bsky.social Robert Knight @rupertairbear.bsky.social · 5d
It's amazing how much of a difference the congestion charge in Oxford has made. The roads are much quieter, it's so easy driving around the city centre now and being able to keep to time. My job has become less stressful.
November 5, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
nisreenalwan.bsky.social
Mamdani:
▫️won more than a million votes
▫️1st candidate to do so since 1969
▫️more than 2 million New Yorkers cast their ballots
▫️almost double that of the last election 4 yrs ago
▫️first Muslim mayor
▫️youngest person in over a century to lead the largest city in the US
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cg...
Election day live updates: Zohran Mamdani wins New York mayoral race
Democrats are also projected to win governor races in Virginia and New Jersey as Californians vote to redraw election maps.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
greenpartyemma.bsky.social
Everyone in Oxfordshire loves Tolkien and traffic debates, right? 😉

Here's my full speech:
I agree with Councillor Walker that it is positive to have this debate here AND I will be voting against this motion. Oxford has struggled with traffic and private cars for decades. This congestion charge isn’t perfect for everyone - no transport policy ever is - but it is a significant step forward. There are changes I think should be made including 1) charging larger cars more than smaller cars, 2) allocating permits per adult rather than per car to avoid incentivising households to own more than one car - as we heard from Lydia this morning, 3) using funds generated to benefit public transport for everyone, rather than prioritising free park and ride buses for those who already own cars. Nonetheless, we should support the temporary congestion charge, perhaps particularly the Conservative Group. UK transport is our sector with the largest greenhouse gas emissions, driving runaway climate change and flooding in Oxford which block roads and ruin homes. Theresa May introduced landmark legislation to get the UK to Net Zero by 2050 and I applaud her for that. Margaret Thatcher was warning the UN about the huge dangers from global warming back in 1989 - the year I was born. Congestion charges - and using revenues to subsidise public transport - are the most effective way to reduce car journeys in cities, and therefore cut greenhouse gas emissions. References: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-theresa-may-we-will-end-uk-contribution-to-climate-change-by-2050 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22069768 https://theconversation.com/12-best-ways-to-get-cars-out-of-cities-ranked-by-new-research-180642 One of Oxford’s most famous writers - JRR Tolkien - wrote a satirical essay in the 1960s about how car traffic was destroying Oxford. It was published for the first time this year and I really recommend reading it. The problems he was describing 60 years ago are still far too relevant today: congestion, road rage and noise pollution. I will read a few extracts. “There were many citizens [who were] no longer amused, saying openly that these motors were ruining the city” “But as for speed: before long the Via Maxima [High Street] was packed with an unceasing stream of motors crawling so slowly from halt to halt that a man on foot could (like an animal) walk its whole length and back to find a mounted [driving] friend only ten yards further on his way, while the horn of his motor trumpeted in vexation.” “Nevertheless, the constipation of the highways did not mitigate the noise and stench in the city; for if halted the Motors belched the more, while they drummed and throbbed inwardly in thwarted rage.” “There came at last a day when every street, every road, lane, alley, court and byway was blocked: nothing could move either forward or backward. All motors stopped dead. Silence fell. The silence of a tomb.” Tolkien was a Conservative and self-described anarchist who hated state interference. And he could see and wrote eloquently how cars will take over and strangle a city without regulation. It would be fantastic if we could have fast and frequent buses and safe walking and wheeling WITHOUT disincentives and restrictions for parking and driving - but that simply never happens. ¬¬ Let’s support policies to free up Oxford, let’s vote against this motion.
November 4, 2025 at 6:16 PM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Well hello, sensibly-sized-for-a-city little blue car.

Anyone know anything about this tiny car I saw in Oxford on the iffley road today? I loved it!
A very small blue car next to a tediously enormous yellow jeep and infront of a family SUV on the iffley road
November 4, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
oldenoughtosay.com
sorry everyone I’m just having a lot of fun with the congestion charge debate because look I live outside the ring road in a village with not great bus service and I personally think the CC is one of the best things to happen to Oxford this year
November 4, 2025 at 4:09 PM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Yep, Labour voting with the Tories and Reform to scrap Oxford's Congestion Charge after 6 days, without bothering to wait and see any results.

Given early signs indicate that the buses are speeding up (but not confirmed yet), this is directly opposing improved buses.
oxfordclarion.bsky.social Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 6d
The vote on Oxford’s Congestion Charge is taken and goes broadly along party lines.

For removing the charge: 22 (Con, Lab, Ind)
Against removing the charge: 36 (LibDem, Green, Henley)
Abstain: 2 (Will Boucher-Giles, LibDem for Chesterton; Emma Markham, Green for Shrivenham)
November 4, 2025 at 5:08 PM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Oxford “Ghost Town” klaxon. 👇

Yet again Labour want the benefits of reduced congestion (faster buses) but refuse to address the cause (too many private cars).

Anyway I didn’t vote cos I had to go home and pick up my kids but incase anyone is in any doubt, I am in favour of the CC.
oxfordclarion.bsky.social Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 6d
Cllr Mark Cherry (Lab, Banbury Ruscote): “This type of thing costs businesses a lot of money. They will simply add costs. In certain areas of Oxford you’re going to be paying through the roof for building work. It’s going to become a ghost town. You’ll pay the price at the election box.”
November 4, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Buses are getting around Oxford faster as a result of the congestion charge, according to Oxford Bus Company. MD Luke Marion said “We’ve already seen encouraging improvements to traffic flow and bus journey times in the scheme’s first week.”
Speedy bus (photo: Roger Close)
November 4, 2025 at 10:53 AM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Obsessed with this live "bus tracker" map. Filtered for Oxford Bus Company but other companies and individual bus stops also available.

bustimes.org/operators/ox...
November 4, 2025 at 12:14 PM
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Oxford Congestion Charge: a friend timed their bus journey from Redbridge P&R to Folly bridge and it took 4.5mins during peak hour this morning. The quickest ever! The Iffley Road, however, was less congested but still lots of traffic; St. Clements was pretty clear.
November 4, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
comixminx.bsky.social
Day 2 of anecdata on my bit of the new temporary congestion charge in Oxford. I also had a tradesman appointment yesterday afternoon and took the opportunity to ask him about traffic. He said that within the ring road it was very clear, but that the ring road itself was basically at peak, all day.
comixminx.bsky.social jinty comixminx wildebeest the third @comixminx.bsky.social · 7d
Day 2 of #CongestionChargeWatch on Hollow Way. I have heard a few cars but all very free flowing before 7 am.
Quiet road with little traffic: taken at just before 7 am on Tuesday 4 Nov, the first full week of the temporary congestion charge in Oxford. This is Hollow Way, which has one of the monitoring points at the other end. Here we are facing towards the Cowley Rd / Oxford Road end.
November 4, 2025 at 7:20 AM