Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
@emilykerr36.bsky.social
9.6K followers 2.9K following 1.7K posts
Oxford City Councillor, Green Party, UK. Loves cycling, trees, circular fashion, car-sharing, local business, community initiatives.
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emilykerr36.bsky.social
ah but it is going to be alongside highways, so absolutely needs to be same material. Yes agree re: dedicated and separated cycleways - different spec required.
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Ah this is all excellent - THANKS!
emilykerr36.bsky.social
I.e. you can't just order 1m2 of red tarmac, it's prohibitively expensive, you have to do a whole new batch. So stuff is fixed with black tarmac. That looks UGLY.

So what's the solution? Someone must have fixed this! (3/3)
emilykerr36.bsky.social
(because if you just put paint on top it wears off quickly, is bad for the environment, and is slippery).

But utilities often need to do things like e.g. cutting a 1msq bit of tarmac out. Replacing that with red is very tricky, because you need to clean the tarmac machine between batches... (2/3)
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Coloured tarmac replacement help: in possibly my most niche question of all-time, does anyone know a solution for replacing small patches of coloured tarmac?

Issue is if you lay a red cycle / bus lane, you should use tarmac which has red all the way through it.... (1/3)
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
zackpolanski.bsky.social
A new week - and a new huge milestone!

@greenparty.org.uk now have 100,000 members!!!

We are absolutely on track to next overtake the Tories - let's make hope normal again!

Join.greenparty.org.uk
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
davidho.bsky.social
“Living car-free is the most impactful behavior by far in terms of reducing emissions.”
wriclimate.bsky.social
🚲🥗🚗 Small choices matter, but big change happens when systems support them.

WRI Climate ranked 19 climate-friendly behaviors to show which ones cut the most emissions and why policies & businesses must make them accessible.

See the list 👉 bit.ly/4q0pWvC
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
explaintrade.com
This is an exact encapsulation of why I moved to Bluesky.

No amount of handwringing in the Atlantic about how I owe some eternal Promethean suffering to the discourse is going to make me stay on a site I hate, that stopped doing anything for me professionally years ago.
Well – no. Bluesky may or may not be, as one centre-right friend who felt unwelcome put it, “self-righteous island”. But the idea that’s why we went is nonsense. That I’ve largely stopped posting on a site that’s done more to shape my career and social circle than the rest of the internet combined is less about avoiding rival opinions (I love arguing with people who are wrong!) than with the fact the site simply became unusable. It stopped generating the things (good jokes, interesting debate, clicks) I wanted; it became extremely good at generating the things (racists, pornbots, racist pornbots) I did not.
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
oldenoughtosay.com
This is very cool as a visual and also yes I agree that a whole lot of people have not/do not want to realise this. It will reduce traffic to the busiest area, thereby reducing traffic in the ‘thru’ zones, without reducing access TO the ‘thru’ zones
sjgower.bsky.social
I made an infographic map. Oxford's Congestion Charge scheme (from 29th Oct) is not like most congestion charge schemes, because you can get to most streets in the city without being charged. My impression is a lot of people haven't realised this.
A street map of Oxford. 

Woodstock Road, Banbury Road and the streets in their immediate vicinity are coloured pink. Botley Road and streets off it are coloured green. Cowley Road, Iffley Road and Abingdon Road and streets off them are coloured blue. Streets in Marston and Headington are coloured orange. The ring road matches the colours at each junction and fades between colours as it goes around. A small area in the middle is coloured yellow, and labelled "Central Permit Area". THe Congestion Charge traffic filters are indicated by black circles circles with white segments, those white segments correspond on a 24 hour clock face with when the filter isn't operational (and the remaining black, when the filters are operational). Crosses mark other filters in the city that are enforced by ANPR but are not part of the Congestion Charge scheme.

Text at the top of the image reads "Temporary Congestion Charge for Cars in Oxford 2025-2026. Any road outside the Central Permit Area can be accessed without passing any traffic filers by using the Ring Road and selecting an approporiate exit junction (matching colours on this map)."

A key at the bottom matches the filter types, with text "Traffic Filters. Hollow Way & Marston Ferry Road 7-9am and 3-6pm. St Cross Road, Hythe Bridge Street, Thames Street and St Clements, 7am-7pm. £5 daily permit covers all Congestion Charge filters. Free Permits available. For example for residents, business use, health and car, SEND and disabilty. Congestion Charge permits do not apply for other filters, such as High Street or in East Oxford/Cowley."

Small print reads "Full details at https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/transport-and-travel" and "©@sjgower Contains OpenStreetMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors.  Locations of highway filters are approximate and for overview purposes only. v1.3"
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Just touring sites with the team who check contractors are doing Highways signs correctly.

We have asked them nicely to put a “no overtaking cyclists” sign here given how busy it is - no legal obligation to do so, but they often will.
Magdalen Bridge - second most busy cycling route in the UK.
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
greenpartyemma.bsky.social
An unexpected and cheerful review of @emilykerr36.bsky.social and mine's recent antics in @oxfordclarion.bsky.social this week, from railways to beavers.

"Very chipper" is a wonderful understatement on @greenparty.org.uk surging membership numbers. I personally have been bouncing off walls.
Oxfordshire politics
There has been a lot of politics this week. Refill that cuppa.

Green county councillor Emma Garnett gave a barnstorming speech on the big stage at the Green Party Conference, as her party overwhelmingly passed a motion to get East West Rail done and fully electrify it. Her colleague Emily Kerr, meanwhile, was on the BBC, where she agreed with a public comment that the Green Party was like a beaver: making big changes and caring about nature. (She did not comment on the suggestion that the Conservative Party were closest to vultures.) Green Party activists on social media have been very chipper about rapidly growing membership figures.
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
dieworkwear.bsky.social
The effect of car dependency: in 1940, Basil Rathbone was photographed wearing an overcoat outside his home. As more men relied on cars, overcoats became shorter to accommodate drivers. Today, the right is marketed as an "overcoat," even if it would've been considered more sport coat length in 1940.
Basil Rathbone standing on some brick steps outside of his home. He's wearing an overcoat that comes down below his knee. He's also wearing what appears to be gray trousers and black dress shoes. A Suitsupply model wears a navy "overcoat," which barely reaches mid-thigh. He pairs it with a navy turtleneck, gray pleated trousers, and black shoes.
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
beijingpalmer.bsky.social
I think Paul, of blessed posting memory, is entirely right here, and I say this *even though* the young people I know remain highly literate and engaged, because I think his sample is way more representative than mine.

musgrave.substack.com/p/a-post-lit...
A Post-Literate Society is a Too-Literal Society
Directness is a virtue and subtlety is lost
musgrave.substack.com
emilykerr36.bsky.social
I like the STRICTLY. How do you think they feel about Bromptons? :)
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Oxford residents I just want to shout out Extra, the excellent independent hardware store in the city centre (road next to the westgate next to the Royal Blenheim). Really good, has everything. I never noticed before. Also has a sign saying No Bikes In Shop - both reasonable and funny
A photo of a great city centre hardware store. Sign saying “no bikes in shop please”
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Am teaching primary school ids cycling today AND saw some street art happening as I took them out. It’s like the dream!
New street art Mag rd
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
urbanturbo.bsky.social
Celebrate your wins! Here’s “Flower Lane”, a popular bit of permeability in OX4. The photo is 2024, showing how unfriendly the approach is for anyone using it. 1/
Cars block access to a pedestrian and cycling cut-through.
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Right just want to mega recommend Spiced Roots on the Cowley Rd.

Awesome fresh Caribbean food and lunchtime menu at £10.

Also lots of vegan, due to “ital” which is the fresh & no animal product way of living & eating which many Rastafarians choose.
Me having lunch at Spiced Roots
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
chrisjarvisdiy.bsky.social
On Monday, Oxford City Council near-unanimously supported the Green Party motion which made clear our city stands against the far right and against regressive migration policy - from banning asylum seekers from working to scrapping family reunion.
Oxford City Council backs city's minority communities in vote
A Green party motion called on Oxford City Council to oppose far right rhetoric.
www.bbc.co.uk
Reposted by Cllr Emily Kerr 💚
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Electric cargo bikes can replace many everyday car trips for the average family and “reshape suburban family mobility”, say Oxford University researchers. 49 British households were loaned e-cargo bikes for school runs, shopping trips, family outings and other day-to-day use.
Family on an electric cargo bike
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Excited that the Oxford Congestion Charge means that the 3/3A will now run to the station!! Amongst a whole host of other bus improvements.
oxfordclarion.bsky.social
Oxford Bus Co has announced more frequent bus services from November to coincide with the congestion charge coming into effect. The improvements mean Blackbird Leys and Cowley will have services to the city centre every 10 minutes, while Iffley Road gets a new night bus.
Oxford Bus Company 300 stops off for a quick half at the Wetherspoons
emilykerr36.bsky.social
Idk I think more mandolin might be played without? ;)