The socialist group in the Granada Provincial Council has demanded a «rethink» of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in the capital of Granada, calling for coordination with the entire metropolitan area and ensuring access to services for citizens. These demands will be raised through a motion at the February ordinary plenary session in order for the provincial government, led by the PP, to promote a shared strategy to combat air pollution, for the Junta to «improve» public transport in the province, and for the City Council to «rectify so as not to prevent access to vehicles from other municipalities in the province.»
This LEZ «will work if it is seen as a collective project and is complemented by other actions,» said provincial deputy Paco Cuenca, emphasizing the importance of having «a variety of measures and actors.»
Along with other members of the socialist group in the Granada Provincial Council, Cuenca stated that the LEZ «will only make sense in a context of institutional collaboration with neighboring municipalities and within a broad framework of shared measures with those municipalities.»
He indicated that this initiative by the PSOE urges the government of Francis Rodríguez in the Provincial Council to «take advantage of the institutional collaboration framework that this administration represents to design a common strategy to combat air pollution and protect health in the region.»
This Thursday, «the President of the Provincial Council and deputy mayor of Alhendín has the opportunity to show where he stands. If he is with the PP and is going to cover up his own in the Granada City Council with a LEZ proposal that makes no sense, or if he is with the citizens of the entire province,» he stated.
Additionally, the motion calls on the Andalusian government to effectively implement the plan to improve air quality in the Granada conurbation and its metropolitan area, with «sufficient financial resources to guarantee acceptable results and address the demands of the affected municipalities.»
«Francisco Rodríguez must demand from Moreno Bonilla to improve metropolitan connections, public transport throughout the province as an alternative to the essential act of leaving private vehicles parked to avoid generating pollution,» explained Cuenca.
The socialists also propose in this motion that the City Council of Granada «reorient» the LEZ to be «more inclusive and not exclude vehicles from other municipalities in the province, and to consider the needs of thousands of people who work, shop, or live their lives in the city.»
«Vehicles registered in Granada pollute exactly the same as those from any other municipality. That’s why the critical elements of the LEZ should not be related to the place of residence but to the type of restrictions to be imposed, improving mobility and protecting public health,» he explained.
Private vehicles, Cuenca added, «are the number one pollution factor, which is why any improvement in air quality requires traffic restrictions, which must be offset by a truly effective mobility system.»
In his view, the Mayor of Granada, Marifrán Carazo of the PP, must «stop turning her back on the other municipalities in the metropolitan area affected by the same problem and cooperate with them,» he emphasized, also demanding that she «reverse the planned restrictions in her LEZ.»
Cuenca advocated for «reverting to the model proposed by the previous socialist government, based on a central core and subsequent rings, until a sufficient metropolitan public transport system is established, based on the hierarchy of pedestrian, bicycle, public transport, high occupancy vehicles, shared mobility, and lastly, private vehicles.»
FERNÁNDEZ HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE METROPOLITAN AREA
In response to questions from journalists in his first appearance in Granada as the provincial secretary of the PSOE, Pedro Fernández indicated regarding this issue that «any measure affecting a functional area» such as the metropolitan area «must be taken with the highest consensus and participation because there is constant and daily interaction.»
In this sense, he urged the Mayor of Granada to «sit at the table» and review «the impact of these measures» with representatives from the municipalities in the metropolitan area, with the common goal of reducing emissions and «with institutional loyalty,» criticizing her for, in his opinion, «making decisions without caring at all about how they affect the residents» of the capital’s surroundings.