Claims of 'missed opportunity' over cycling routes in Northumberland

However, the lead councillor for cycling has said that the authority’s ‘commitment is there for all to see’, with a series of plans in development and £1.5million allocated in this year’s Local Transport Plan.

As previously reported, no pop-up bike lanes or other new cycling routes have so far been created in Northumberland using cash from the emergency active travel fund, which the Government said in May would mean ‘pop-up bike lanes with protected space for cycling, wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors being created in England within weeks’.

The North East Joint Transport Committee was handed £2.26million in the first round – with Northumberland allocated £161,000 – and an indicative second regional allocation of £9.05million is to come.

Leader of the Labour group, Cllr Susan Dungworth, said: “Not a single pop-up cycle lane in sight and we’re told details of what the council plans to do with the next allocation of money is yet to be finalised.

“We only have to look to our neighbouring councils to see things like pop-up cycle lanes and how they work for people, giving them space and safety on their bikes.

“We totally support the council’s wish to get us all walking more for our own health and for the environment, but the lack of any improvements for cycling seems like an opportunity missed.

“We welcome the plans being drawn up for each town in the county to help to change the way local people travel, but we need to see these changes soon and certainly well before we are out of Covid restrictions and people go back to their normal travel habits.

“Labour is committed to encouraging people to walk and cycle more for their own health and for the environment.

“To make real change, it has to work for people and serious and sustained investment is needed, not just emergency funds which only serve to put a sticking plaster over a wound rather than address the issue properly.”

In response, Cllr Cath Homer, the cabinet member responsible for leisure, said: “This council is dedicated to establishing walking and cycling networks that are safe, attractive, joined-up and accessible to all.

“Our commitment is there for all to see, with a cycling and walking board, a bespoke strategy and for the first time ever, we invested over £1.5million in cycling and walking routes in this year’s Local Transport Plan – something that’s previously unheard of.

“We’ve been developing plans for each of our main towns initially, identifying schemes that will give the greatest results to deliver more active forms of travel.

“We’ve already developed proposals for 36 cycling and 24 walking corridors which puts us in a strong position to bid for local and national funding to deliver these schemes.

“Over the next 18 months, we’ll also be pushing forward with further design and development of a number of priority routes and our next stage is to start an extensive public consultation.

“A key element is also they’re sustainable – these are all well-thought-out, connected routes not temporary arrangements.

“While the Government’s Emergency Active Travel Fund presented an opportunity to build on this approach, the criteria for Tranche 1 was very much focused on delivering temporary interventions to help with the impacts of the Covid-19 lockdown.

“Part of our funding was aimed at creating more space for pedestrians and cyclists in our town centres by suspending parking and loading bays and removing street clutter.

“The guidance for applications to the Tranche 2 Fund has now been issued which supports more permanent measures and are capable of being in place by the end of March 2021.

“While the criteria is heavily weighted towards city-centre projects, we are making a strong case for the inclusion of ours.

“We have reviewed our route corridors to identify where we can safely improve some areas for cyclists and walkers within cost and timescale and submitted bids to try to secure the funding necessary for these improvements as the first step in a phased approach to delivering the full route. This work obviously has to be carefully considered to ensure ongoing road safety for all road users.”

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