Ambitious plans for travel around Chronicle country unveiled – and you can have your say

Ambitious plans to improve ways for walkers and cyclists to get around much of Chronicle country have been unveiled by Central Bedfordshire Council.

They are part of the council’s active travel commitments to make it easier and safer to walk, wheel and cycle around towns.

During 2022 the Council asked for comments on network proposals to improve facilities for travel. The result is a suite of reports published this week called Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs). These explain in detail the networks it envisages for each town, plus the principles behind their design.

The benefits extend beyond pedestrians and cyclists and the plans aim to make life easier for users of mobility scooters, wheelchairs, pushchairs and prams.

Among the plans for Bigglewade, Potton, Sandy, Arlesey, Fairfield, Henlow and Stotfold is providing better links to the smaller settlements.

The report states the proposals are to: “provide guidance for planning decisions and for developers promoting development opportunites in Biggleswade, Potton and Sandy, ensuring new residents have options to travel sustainably.

“Provide routes to connect Biggleswade, Potton and Sandy [along with Arlesey, Fairfield, Henlow and Stotfold] to surrounding smaller settlements, extending sustainable accesses to local services and amenities. Such routes to be of a form that can accommodate micro mobility technologies as these are adopted, with mobility scooters, e-bikes and e-scooters being examples.”

A further consultation on each LCWIP runs throughout November, closing mid-December. The results of the consultation will help to shape a Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for five locations within Central Bedfordshire.

The consultation follows a series of engagement events where the public, businesses and other local stakeholders gave their views and shared local information to help inform the proposed networks.

Cllr Tracey Wye, Executive Member for Sustainability and Climate Resilience said: “The feedback from this consultation will help us to focus on the destinations where people most want to get to. For instance, if we find that many of our residents would like to be able to cycle, walk or wheel to the train station or a local school, then that’s what we’ll prioritise. I would encourage everyone to have their say on the proposed destinations in their area.

“We want walking and cycling to be the natural choice for local trips and these plans aim to provide the infrastructure for convenient, safer, greener and healthier alternatives to using our cars.”

Cllr Wye added: “The fact that we can now collect our residents’ views not just by completing a form, but by collecting local intelligence using the features of the new consulting tool, means that we can really drill down to what the residents in these five locations would like see in terms of active travel networks.”

The consultation opens for six weeks from Wednesday 1 November until on Thursday 14 December. Go to www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/consultations to have your say.

Paper copies are available in the Council’s libraries or can be requested by calling 0300 300 8302.