Better Transport

Your campaign targets are the people who have the power to affect the change you are seeking.

Local authority
Because it has the power to designate an area a Home Zone, your local authority will be the main target for your campaigning. You need to understand where local councillors and officers are coming from if you are going to convince them to set up a Home Zone. Understand that they:

• Won’t make community improvements without knowing there is community demand and support for it. You need to demonstrate support for your ideas
• Follow Government guidance. The Department for Transport has prepared guidance on setting up Home Zones and a good practice guide
• Follow plans and strategies currently in place. You should become familiar with these so that you know what your authority is planning to get up to and also so you can tailor your campaign request to fit into these plans
• Worry about cost. Be prepared to speak about the benefits of a Home Zone and to put forward possible funding sources

Within your local authority there will be:

• Councillors. They decide on policies and make their decisions via committees
• Council officers, who are employed by the council to formulate and implement policies. They write reports for relevant council committees, which will form the basis for the council’s decision

Both councillors and officers are responsible for specific areas of policy –often these responsibilities are listed online. Don’t know how to reach your local authority? Find the contact details online.

County council
Local authorities almost always need financial support to create a Home Zone and will often look for funding from the county council. So get to know your county council. Understand that the council:

• Will be looking to spend its money in the way that has the greatest benefit. A cautionary tale: The county council cancelled a Home Zone project for Stapleton road, in Headington, Oxfordshire because it said the scheme was not going to sufficiently improve the area’s transport problems to justify the expense

> How to reach your county council

While your local authority will be your main target for a Home Zone campaign, you’ll need to gather some supporters as well.