Funding boost for the expansion of active travel schemes in West Cheshire

Cheshire West and Chester Council has been notified of a grant award from ‘Tranche 2’ of the Government’s Emergency Active Travel Fund, which is seeking to deliver an attractive alternative to the travelling public for shorter journeys and support efforts to improve public health.

The Council made an ambitious bid to reflect the many ideas and suggestions that communities made over the Summer via the Walk Ride Thrive Participate Now portal and in relation to the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan.  Funding of £611,800 has now been confirmed for plans to permanently reallocate roadspace to active travel.  As less funding has been awarded than was bid for, the schemes and activities will need to be prioritised for delivery to reflect the available finances. 

The proposed priority schemes, which those communities will be asked to codevelop and help deliver, are identified below: 

Northwich 

• B5153 Northwich Road (part) – segregated cycleway facility linking Hartford and Weaverham serving local schools
• A559 / A533 (part)– improved cycleway links to Northwich town centre 

Frodsham to Helsby 

• A56 corridor (part) - segregated cycleway facility, footway enhancement and controlled crossing facility providing links to Helsby High School

The secured funds will also provide additional cycle training opportunities, the development and promotion of a Park & Cycle offer and the exploration of innovative digital applications (initially aimed at school trips) to complement the wider active travel programme. 

Councillor Karen Shore, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport said: “Increasing cycling and walking opportunities is considered essential to help address some of the most challenging issues that we face as a society including; improving air quality, combatting climate change, improving health and wellbeing, addressing inequalities and tackling traffic congestion. There is an emphasis placed on the need to increase health benefits from more physical activity and the longer-term benefits of this to the NHS.  I therefore welcome this additional investment. 

“In contrast to the significant constraints imposed on Tranche 1 funding, it is notable that government has advised that it is now more important that these new schemes are delivered robustly, and that community support is established than being delivered rapidly. 

“This fully aligns with the Council’s own common approach to the co-development of schemes with our communities, and within appropriate timescales.  We will now approach local representatives of the communities that are set to benefit from our prioritised schemes, to agree the precise form of engagement that will generate and gather a truly representative picture of local views.  We hope that these communities will then continue to help us through the delivery stage and encourage widespread use of the new facilities. 

“The newly formed independent Sustainable Transport Taskforce will also be invited to support and review our plans for stakeholder engagement on these schemes.   

 “It is important to note that the complementary cycle training, Park & Cycle and the digital applications will be available to communities across the borough and further details on how residents can access those initiatives will be announced in the New Year.  I also want to advise that while the Tranche 2 funding is finite and we are only able to deliver a small number of schemes, the Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan adopted in the Summer does represent our 10-year strategy and we encourage all communities to work with us in exploring how these other schemes can be delivered.”

Tackling the Climate Emergency is one of the six main challenges identified as part of the Council’s four-year Council Plan: Play your part to thrive. The Council declared a Climate Emergency in May 2019 and set the borough an ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2045. 

The Council have been working and engaging with a range of partners, climate experts, community groups and businesses to understand the challenges and opportunities the Climate Emergency presents for the area. Two plans have been produced setting out these challenges and the actions that will be taken to achieve carbon neutrality in the borough. The first is the Climate Emergency Response Plan which focuses on the borough wide response to the climate crisis. The second is the Carbon Management Plan which focuses on the Council’s response.

Residents, businesses and community groups can share their views on both plans by emailing: climatechange@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk by the 6 January 2021.

The Climate Emergency response plan sets out the scale of the challenge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. The plan is guided by scientific evidence on the current state of emissions in west Cheshire and the engagement and intervention planning undertaken since the Climate Emergency was declared in May 2019. It outlines the action required to achieve carbon neutrality, and how the delivery of these actions will be tracked.

https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/your-council/councillors-and-committees/the-climate-emergency/documents/draft-climate-emergency-response-plan.pdf

The draft Carbon Management Plan focuses on the Council as an organisation and sets out the actions the Council needs to take to be carbon neutral by 2030. The plan provides an overview of the Council’s current position in relation to carbon emissions and outlines the targets to reduce emissions throughout Council services over the next ten years.

https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/your-council/councillors-and-committees/the-climate-emergency/documents/draft-carbon-management-plan.pdf