Just Lines on a Map
Above: This new London to Newhaven route proposal is not much more than lines on a map. But those markings represent literally 100s of hours of field research undertaken by concerned citizens. The Sevenoaks Bike Festival was a perfect opportunity to glean local support for the proposal as well as invite and collate invaluable local insights around the potential opportunities and constraints.
When we pitched-up at the Sevenoaks Bike Festival on Saturday 21st September 2024 to promote a new cycle route / greenway from London to Newhaven, Cycle Lewes were not only blessed with glorious weather but also by the presence of cycle journalist, Laura Laker, author of a great new book, Potholes and Pavements. She also very recently scored the first interview with the new Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh MP. The new route Cycle Lewes was promoting goes right past Sevenoaks so this was a great opportunity to build local support for this incredible ‘greenway’ proposal. We were excited to share with visitors how this proposal pulls together world-class places of interest and hospitality with gentler gradients than the current London to Paris alignment used by the Avenue Verte. Not only was the turnout for the event pretty remarkable, but the feedback received from local people, cycling groups and town and district councillors turned out to be absolute gold dust.
Above: Journalist and cycling advocate Laura Laker helped rally support for the new London to Newhaven greenway on the Cycle Lewes stand at the Sevenoaks Bike Festival.
Here are some quick facts about why we might want to get behind this new route proposal:
The new route has the potential to unlock a World Class active travel greenway, celebrating the beauty and history of the landscapes of southern England – in a sense a new and improved English leg of the London to Paris Avenue Verte cycle path.
The new route would be composed of local schemes for local places, but within a strategic plan to form a national route linking to the Eurvelo network and thus opening the door to significant low environmental impact tourism.
The new route affords local people with the leisure and health benefits of a car-free route linking great places of interest and hospitality through Kent and East Sussex including the High Weald AONBs and the South Downs National Park.
In terms of cost-effectiveness, the new route builds on existing bridleways, footpaths, disused railway lines, quiet country lanes and existing cycle paths which can deliver a high degree of cost benefit in unlocking access to improved health and well-being opportunities as well as attracting environment-friendly tourism into the local economy.
Right now, could be a crucial time for raising awareness for active travel projects. The new Secretary of State has indicated Government spending on cycling and walking will be “unprecedented”. Indeed, getting people active and getting people moving is at the heart of the Government’s mission-based strategy for tackling both the climate and the social care emergencies.[1]
It is important not to be divisive, pitting car drivers, walkers and cyclists against each over. This new route proposal has benefits for all and there is scarcely anything that could conceivably be considered controversial about it. Not only is it incredibly economic in the way it exploits and knits together existing pathways, be it bridleways, footpaths, disused railway lines, quiet country lanes and existing cycle paths, but it opens the door to the potential of increased tourism income as well as providing leisure benefits to local dog-walkers, ramblers, cyclists and wheelers.
New cycle paths offer huge investment cost-benefit particularly when it comes to improving physical and mental well-being. There is growing evidence of this affect, as highlighted for instance in a report, Places for Everyone, by the Sustrans’ Research and Monitoring Unit (RMU). According to the report, in one particular project, walking, wheeling and cycling increased in a local area by over 270% following the introduction of active travel infrastructure improvements.[2]
Above: The French authorities long ago saw the that cycle tourists were really good tourists. They bring income into the local communities but without the environmental impact that heavy road vehicles inflict. It is not just the paths which makes the visitor experience so enjoyable and impressive; it is all the delightful signage that make the places of interest and the offerings of hospitality so easy to find and the route itself such a pleasure to navigate.
Let’s have some ambition!
In hospitality terms, it is remarkable how many people I run across in Lewes (including myself), who ferry across the Channel to Dieppe to spend hard-earned holiday money in France on their amazing and ever-growing cycle network. It is not just the paths which makes the visitor experience so enjoyable and impressive; it is all the delightful signage that make the places of interest and the offerings of hospitality so easy to find and the route itself such a pleasure to navigate. Even before you have left on your trip, there are on-line resources to help you plan your journey, with recommendations for cycle-friendly places to stay. Anything marked, “Accueil vélo” basically means cyclists are welcome.
According to a keen cyclist I met recently from Rennes, the French authorities realised a while back that cycle tourists are really good tourists. They have such little environmental impact. They don’t clutter up pretty villages and towns with cars and yet, because they travel so light, they also need to shed cash everywhere they go. So, whilst being good for the local economy, they do so with little or no environmental degradation. Meanwhile the locals are getting all the health benefit opportunities of that high quality cycle infrastructure in their communities.
But why not imagine our towns, our counties and our region attracting continental cycle tourists with the same level of ambition as they do say in Seine Maritime or the Netherlands? Surely it is a win-win? That is why Cycle Lewes have set up a sub-group with a view to exploring ways in which cycle tourism could be better coordinated and promoted on a local and regional level. Afterall, we have some of the best cycling country in all of Europe (OK, so I am a little biased).
Our local cycling community have been exasperated by the glacial progress of improving cycle infrastructure by East Sussex County Council, despite the authority declaring a Climate Emergency. That frustration has prompted some of our Cycle Lewes members to take the planning of a rural network of cycle greenways into their own hands. In September 2024, this new London to Newhaven route proposal is not much more than lines on a map. But those markings represent literally 100s of hours of field research undertaken by concerned citizens.
Above: In the absence of sufficient progress and vision made by ESCC Highways in implementing an inter-parish cycle network, our local cycle community has taken the planning and promotion of such a strategy into their own hands. Their work builds on the ideas originally put forward by visionary active travel thinkers John Grimshaw, the founder of Sustrans, and Mark Strong from Transport Initiatives way back in the 1990s. It is now one major step closer to reality. This extract of their plan is from the Evening Argus in 1993.
This new work has painstakingly looked at every junction point along the route, and many alternative options to boot. It has allowed something that might recently have dubbed a pipe dream to be unpacked and to bring into focus what it might take to bring such a vision into reality. In fact, what they have done is seized on some of the ideas originally put forward by visionary active travel thinkers John Grimshaw, the founder of Sustrans, and Mark Strong from Transport Initiatives way back in the 1990s. It is now one major step closer to reality.
The next step is to get Sustrans on board. From there we can approach KCC and ESCC and then perhaps set up a steering group to help oversee the compilation of detailed feasibility studies, a business case, fund raising and any land acquisitions that may need to be implemented. Beyond that is the construction work which would likely be done in phases and then oversee the setting-up of volunteer groups to help maintain the greenway. There is still a long way to go.
It is an exciting moment with the new Secretary of State for Transport appearing to strongly support the mandate of Active Travel England. Let us hope they can work together to promote more cycling and bring about a change of culture in local highway authorities so that our political leaders and highways engineers can accelerate the delivery of planet-friendly modes of transport. In the meantime, Cycle Lewes is happy to help promote the opportunities of a north-south active travel spine which would open the doors to a new paradigm of inter-parish cycle networks across the Southeast and beyond.
[1] https://shows.acast.com/streets-ahead/episodes/louise-haigh-mp-secretary-of-state-for-transport
[2] https://www.sustrans.org.uk/our-blog/news/2024/june/new-research-highlighting-benefits-of-active-travel-projects-in-scotland-published/