Petrol cloud may have a silver lining

RISING petrol prices could be good for your health.

Having to fork out more cash on the forecourt could tempt hard-pressed motorists to forsake the car and revert to shank’s mare.

The situation is also a godsend for health promotion agencies who have been crying in the wilderness for years with their calls for policies to limit car usage and encourage walking and cycling, which now have a new resonance. Such policies need huge input from planners and designers who, up to now, have largely focused on facilitating motorised traffic.