05/03/2024 - Permalink

Councillors asked to approve Shropshire cycling and walking plan

Related topics: Democracy / Highways, transport and environmental maintenance

Shropshire Council’s Cabinet will next week (13 March 2024) be asked to approve a plan that sets out proposed new and improved cycling and walking routes in seven of the county’s market towns.

The Shropshire Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (or LCWIP) sets out an ambitious ten-year plan of infrastructure measures to improve conditions for walking, cycling and other active modes in the county, and support a shift from car travel to active travel.

It focuses particularly on the towns of Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Market Drayton, Church Stretton, Ludlow and Whitchurch and includes a list of proposals for each town – with each ranked in order of priority based on their effectiveness and deliverability.

The draft plan was out for consultation last summer. The report to Cabinet outlines the changes that have been made to the LCWIP as a result of the public consultation and subsequent stakeholder engagement exercises.

Cabinet is asked to note the outcome of the consultation and the resulting updates to the plan, and to recommend that full Council votes to adopt the plan.

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for active travel, said:

“The LCWIP aims to provide for a high-quality active travel network of routes which will enable more people to choose walking, cycling and wheeling for short trips.

“We received over 1000 responses to last year’s consultation which is a great response. The primary objective of the consultation was to understand the views of people who live, travel, work or study in each of the seven towns and across Shropshire and I want to thank everyone who took time to review our proposals and share their thoughts.

“The responses have all been carefully considered and the plan updated as a result of comments made and I hope Cabinet and full Council will now agree to adopt the cycling and walking plan.”

Further information

1. The Shropshire LCWIP identifies and prioritises long term investment over a ten-year period (to 2034) in new and upgraded walking and cycling provision across Shropshire.

2. The Shropshire LCWIP incorporates the following outputs:

  • The final LCWIP report which incorporates the analysis outcomes and an associated narrative
  • Delivery Plans for walking and cycling covering each of the seven key towns
  • A prioritised programme of infrastructure improvements (schemes) for each of the seven key towns

3. The consultation ran from 2 May to 16 June 2023. 1,026 responses (either online or paper version) to the consultation were received plus 155 responses from schools. Additionally, 14 email responses were received from people wanting to provide more detail on the draft interventions (schemes). This included formal responses from Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury Town Councils.

4. The Shropshire LCWIP has also been informed by, and aligned with, other Council policies such as:

  • The emerging Shropshire Local Plan 2016-2038
  • The Shropshire Core Strategy 2006-2026 (2013)
  • The Shropshire Council SAMDev Plan (2015)
  • The Shrewsbury Big Town Plan (2021)
  • The emerging Shrewsbury Movement and Public Space Strategy
  • Shropshire Place Plans (various)
  • Shropshire’s Green Infrastructure Strategy (2020)
  • Zero Carbon Shropshire Plan (2021)
  • The Shropshire Local Transport Plan 2011-2026 (2011)
  • The emerging Shropshire Local Transport Plan 4
  • The Shropshire Economic Growth Strategy 2022-2027
  • The Shropshire Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2026
  • The Shropshire Great Outdoors Strategy 2018-2028
  • The Shropshire Bus Service Improvement Plan (2021)