Three ways you can get involved

On Friday (30 September) the Farnham Infrastructure Plan (FIP) Board postponed its latest plans for the town centre. The decision is welcome as the FIP offered no solution to Farnham’s congested streets.

The ‘big idea’ at the heart of the FIP was to make some of the town centre’s one-way streets into two-way working, which will create bottlenecks and divert more traffic into the surrounding roads.

Barring some extra bike racks, the FIP was entirely silent on cycling or cycle routes.

We believe that what is needed is a plan to reduce car use altogether by providing better alternatives including improved public transport, and safe and convenient cycling and walking routes.

Up to now, the council has stubbornly refused to publish it’s long overdue cycling and walking plan – the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). But, after considerable pressure from us, it is now due for publication some time in October.

So, now’s the time to sit up and get involved. Three things you can do.

Let’s get moving

It is vital that the publication of the LCWIP is not delayed. Clearly it made no sense to consult on the FIP without considering cycling. We want the council to use the delay to integrate the two plans and put cycling, walking and public transport at the heart. Furthermore, it is vital that the LCWIP – which was due for publication earlier this year – is not delayed further. Please log on to the Council’s consultation website before 9 October and make these points – cycling should be at the centre of this plan!

2. Think about the routes.

You can see three maps here and below. Each has coloured lines showing potential cycle routes in and out of the town centre. They’re a good start but not great – you will see that we have annotated the town centre map with our comments.
If these prove to be the suggested LCWIP routes, what do you think of them? How could they be improved? And, how do we make them high quality, such that young or inexperienced cyclists will use them? Let us have your views in the box below as we will need to respond quickly as the LCWIP takes shape.

3. Sign up now

We have a large number of supporters. But it’s vital that we build a broad coalition of support for proper investment in cycling infrastructure. So, think about your friends, family and colleagues and ask them to subscribe to our mailing list. Sign them up here.