I am pleased to say that Surrey County Council has been true to their promise to release the draft Farnham Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (FLCWIP) albeit a month later than originally intended.
It’s an impressive document in both size and content. Consultants, Atkins, have clearly done their homework – 180 pages of it – and there is a lot to commend.
Leaving aside the walking elements, essentially they have prioritised six routes in and out of the town centre.
Cycling Route 1: Coxbridge Roundabout – West Street – The Borough
Cycling Route 2: Falkner Road – Long Garden – Castle Street – The Hart
Cycling Route 3: Folly Hill – Old Park Lane
Cycling Route 4: Weybourne Road – Hale Road
Cycling Route 5: South Street – Station Hill
Cycling Route 6: Waverley Lane
These are set out in pages 76-89, if you want to skip the preamble.
The draft was sent to the Farnham Cycle Campaign and other stakeholders on 15 November and the campaign team is busily drafting a response in advance of the Board meeting in mid-December. You will be able to see the final response on the FCC website.
Our understanding is that the Board will be asked to agree the six prioritised routes in December, although further consultations on the detailed design of the routes and the interventions needed are promised for next year. So, this is the key moment to get these routes right now – it doesn’t look as if there will be another chance.
My personal initial response is that it’s a good start. But that three points jump out.
- It does very little to improve cycle journeys to and from the West of Farnham and, unaccountably, offers nothing to people travelling to or from Wrecclesham.
- It does not provide continuous routes for cyclists travelling East/West or North/South. The routes abruptly stop when they reach the town centre. This is a disappointing – although given the history of the town centre plan – not surprising. More worryingly, continuity/coherence of routes is the key requirement from the funding agencies and failure to resolve these issues will jeopardise funding for the project.
- To be successful the plan relies on a number of long-awaited cycle routes particularly the Hale Trail, the Scholars’ Greenway and Borelli’s Walk. Currently, we have no idea when these are going ahead – if at all – and the window for getting even the short stretch of cycle path promised through Brightwells is rapidly closing.
And, of course, the other point is that the devil is in the detail. If, for example, the Board does nothing to protect cyclists travelling between Park Row and Long Garden Walk, then the whole idea is a bust.
But, take a look, and if you have any thoughts or suggestions, do let me know.
the Farnham Cyclist 
2 responses to “Cycling plan revealed”
thanks for that , a big read, comprehensive and technical but theoretical, maybe get Mr Musk in charge and get on with it , break a few things and see what works. Comments, for what its worth – Needs here a summary , with better maps, if we want people to engage its got to be much easier to find the section thats relevant to them and see a clear and easy to digest summary. – Maps are poor resolution and hard to interpret, also consistently show “Farnham Castle” somewhere near the top of Wainfleet Lane – Hard to find existing cycleways marked, for instance the shared pavement on the way from Halfords to Big Sainsburys on the left hand side by the Shed place. – I like the “design should seek to incorporate provisions that enhance separation from motor vehicles for people cycling uphill, as the speed differential between motor vehicles and people travelling uphill is greater”
rgds
Ian (White Wheels)
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Just to be clear, this is Surrey County Council’s draft so not mine. But I have passed your comments on it to Elaine Martin, the officer at SCC who is responsible for it (though one of the problems is that nobody really seems to be taking responsibility for it.)
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