As feared, Surrey County Council has this week cancelled publication of the draft Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for Farnham, meaning a further setback to plans to create an integrated cycle and walking network for the town.

The draft, which was due to be circulated to local stakeholders in October, will now not be available until next year at the earliest. And, though consultation is promised on the detail, it seems that the location of the routes themselves will not be open to public scrutiny.

The risk of this approach is that when they eventually get round to building their network, nobody will use it. Experienced cyclists will stick to the roads, slowing still further Farnham’s already snail-paced traffic. And, inexperienced cyclists will not see any point using it, resulting in more pavement cycling at best or, at worst, no reduction in car use at all.

This might seem a touch cynical, but the evidence for this lies with the current town centre infrastructure plans, which include no cycle infrastructure at all, barring a few cycle stands. So, whatever plan Surrey CC eventually comes up with, there will be a town centre shaped hole at the heart of it.

Our elected representatives talk of a climate emergency, but are failing to prioritise alternatives to car-use, with the attendant effects on pollution, carbon emissions and congestion.  It is imperative that they use their powers to accelerate the development of these walking and cycling routes, consult on them and integrate them into the town centre plans urgently or else we will have another expensive white elephant on our hands.