Homes with space for two or more cars ‘not acceptable’ as drivers urged to ‘adapt’

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Building homes with double garages for more than one car is old-fashioned and may harm the environment, according to a sustainability expert. Stefanie O’Gorman, who sits on the Scottish Government’s Climate Emergency Response Group, said construction of houses with double garages drove her “bonkers”.

She recommended that neighbourhoods should be planned differently to help ensure families don’t need more than one car per household.

This would be done by providing amenities such as shops and schools close by, meaning residents would not need to travel too far and could access them by foot or by bike.

Stefanie O’Gorman is a director of sustainable economics at civil engineering firm Ramboll who has advised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on green spaces.

Speaking at the Edinburgh Science Festival, she said the high number of cars was not sustainable.

She added: “Whole communities being a certain number of people with a certain number of cars is just not acceptable anymore.”

Speaking afterwards she continued, saying: “Designing new homes with double garages doesn’t consider the social and cultural changes taking place as we adapt our lives to live more sustainably… we can’t afford for everybody to have two cars.”

She also called for communities to be designed where people could stay their whole lives.

Britain has an estimated 11 million garages, but a RAC study last year suggested more than half did not have cars in them – two-thirds using them for storage.

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Responding to her comments, AA spokesperson Luke Bosdet said many families “need two cars”.

He continued: “There is a wider problem – to find affordable housing, people have to live further out… and then they need their cars for daily trips.”

Mr Bosdet added that double garages “avoid paving over flowers and grass” and ensure “streets are not filled with cars parked up on pavements”.

This comes as a number of prominent politicians have called for things to change to ensure that the use of cars is reduced.

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