THE Green Party often gets accused of wanting to ban cars – as anyone living in rural Herefordshire knows this would be rather impractical and was certainly not our policy last time I checked!

However, as someone who doesn’t own a car and depends heavily on public transport, this is an issue of key personal interest.

The current mishmash of subsidies has left our rural transport network cut to the bone. Whilst my home village of Luston has been lucky to retain a partial bus service, elsewhere in the county services are patchy, such as Kington which has lost its link to Leominster.

Over the years, rural areas have been increasingly paying for the success of public transport in London – the Treasury now spends £1 on public transport around the country for every £25 spent in London.

The Green Party is committed to creating an affordable bus service, with more routes and services and better information, for example bus shelter displays giving arrival times.

This is not just about helping car drivers reduce mileage, carbon emissions and improving air quality. It’s also about giving people who don’t drive opportunity to travel where and when they choose, crucial in rural Herefordshire where there is otherwise the risk of isolation.

We would also ensure locally based services where possible to reduce travel time and improve provision for walkers and cyclists, making such options safer and more pleasant, as these are the best options for health and the environment.

I am shocked by plans to spend billions on HS2, another example of government infrastructure spending targeted at the few rather than the many.

We will scrap HS2, return the railways to public hands, introduce an immediate 10% cut in fares, and improve train services across the country, not just one or two high-profile inter-city routes.