Following on from James Bentall's message. . .
An admirable suggestion
There are three issues
(1) Is the route and proposed design really as good as you think?
(2) Is there enough local pressure to open up the route?
(3) Is there a way to make the council spend the money?
ROUTE AND DESIGN It is worth looking at as many variations in the route as you can think of, not
only just in direction but also implementation, for example there may be ways to flatten the hills
and valleys - eg a disused railway embankment might supply earth for a cycle embankment a little way
away - farmer gets farmable land, you get a cool path.
Check where people really want to go. There are plenty of people who will commute by bike for 3
miles each way - especially if the town has traffic problems.
A cross country route needs to be designed very carefully from the point of view of drainage. It
only takes a bit of water to erode, make a quagmire and freeze.
Surface is always a moot point. Tarmac /can/ be excellent but needs to be properly laid. Concrete is
awful as it soon gets a very uneven surface. Various crushed stone surfaces /can/ be excellent.
Unless horse riders are kept off the cycling part you can forget it! A lot depends on the local
conditions.
Are there any bits that should be lit? I suspect the answer is no, but my rule of thumb is that
cycleways should be lit to the same standard as the alternative road route.
How long does it take at the moment? What would be the time on your new route?
While your main objective is to link village with town you might want to think ALSO about going
further out into the country.[1] This then makes your route look like part of a strategic trunk
route. Also townies (who tend to count for more in the political field) will be more likely to
support it as they can then escape into the country. Before you know it the 'Something valley trail'
is being used to make planning documents look good - All jam tomorrow stuff, but the more [censored]
there is the more difficult it is to sweep it under the carpet.
You'll get a lot of tut-tuts from this ng about part being on the pavement by the side of a road.
Don't forget at path on the RH side of the road is a trap because you get blinded by oncoming
headlights.
LOCAL PRESSURE A landowner can object to the creation of a cycle path and basically that's that!
Land /could/ be compulsory purchased and you may want to do some ferreting to see if somewhere the
county council has written in some puff document "if necessary we will CP land for cycle facilities"
- but don't expect it to be easy to find.
So in reality you need enough local pressure on the landowners to let your route through. This is
where your campaigning skills, pretty drawings and attending 100 balls-aching council meetings
will needed.
It is possible for a landowner to give a sort of private right of way - that is they say "OK you can
pass over my land on your bikes but only on the following conditions..." This obviously isn't the
same as a public right of way and continual use wouldn't establish a PROW. This is used by public
bodies as well as private ones. One point worth making when owners are worried about crime is that
cyclists don't rustle, dump cars or dump rubbish but are often the only eyes out and about to see
and report suspicious behaviour.[2]
Anything to do with changing PROWs means lots of paperwork, enquiries, checking you're not
disturbing rare bees or the natural environment of the Crested Wotnot (All next to farmland that is
dosed with poison sprays every other week!)
MONEY AND COUNCILS Councils absolutely hate having to deal with landowners and will try to fudge the
road route when they come under local pressure. They will decide things without consultation and
pursue their own agenda through thick and thin. _You must control the agenda._ One way is to have
3-monthly meetings between bodies.
Often money for projects can be obtained from regional development agencies - But only matched
funding. (ie if somebody else will pay a pound then so will they. - Note that volunteer's time can
be counted as 'somebody else's payment'😉
There is the [brain fade] Cycling development fund(?) which puts money into projects. They only like
the sort of thing that makes a good photo opportunity for politicians so 'a census' or 'a training
scheme' is out but a bike rack outside the library is in.
I don't know the overall route/plan but my strategy would be to
(4)establist the principle of a complete route (2) build a bit every year. I know (2) is a bloody-
useless way of creating a route but the lesser amounts of money are easier to screw out of
the council.
Sustrans can tell you a lot more about the practicalities of design, build and maintain as well as
negotiating experience. I think the crunch will be to convince land owners that you have solid
local support and what difference is there to them if cycles are on the paths instead of just
pedestrians[3] See if you can find a 'way-in' to a sympathetic land owner (via children at
school?) which gets you started on the chain. Then you can say "Farmer Brown doesn't have a
problem - why do you".
Good luck.
BTW Where are you talking about? There may be others on this ng from down your way who
would join in.
[5] Don't be afraid to take felt pen and draw on a map. Hey presto! You have a cycle route. That's
what councils do all the time without the foggiest idea of why or how or when. It just looks
good in their 5-year plans.
[6] Last autumn out on my bike, I reported a suspicious car registration which was involved in
organised dumping (and other organised crime) on farmland. This one incident cost over £2000
to clear up.
[7] Answer: Only more people. A refusal really means "I really don't want anybody on my land
ever at all".
--
PETER FOX Not the same since the deckchair business folded
[email hidden] www.eminent.demon.co.uk/wcc.htm Witham Cycling
Campaign www.eminent.demon.co.uk/rides East Anglian Pub cycle rides
