Issue - meetings

Hazel Barber

Jamie Matthews, Transport Strategy Officer, Cheshire West and Chester Council, briefed the Forum on the consultation for the new Cycle Strategy for the Council.

There had been considerable investment in the local cycling network in Cheshire over the last 10 years.  Chester had been successful in gaining Cycle Demonstration Town status between 2008 and 2011.  The challenge for the future was to improve local links to the cycle network and consider how to extend the success and lessons learnt from the Cycle Demonstration Town to the rest of Borough.

The Council was keen to encourage more people to cycle to work, to school and for the fun of it and hoped to be able to encourage cycling as part of their tourism agenda.  It was keen to develop awareness campaigns to highlight the health benefits of cycling and encourage more people to take part in cycle training schemes.

To meet these aims the Council was preparing a new Cycling Strategy for the Borough and was consulting on the following four objectives:

1. Build – new and improved infrastructure to improve facilities for cyclist
2. Inform – smarter choices, awareness and marketing campaigns to encourage a cycle friendly culture and promote the benefits of cycling as a low carbon form of transport
3. Know how – education and training to improve cycle safety and security
4. Enthuse – measures to highlight and raise the profile of cycling in the Borough.

Forum members were encourage to respond to the consultation either by completing the forms handed out or online at www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/cyclingconsultation.  The deadline for returning completed questionnaires was Friday 13 July 2012.  The responses would be used to create the draft Cycling Strategy which would be published and consulted on in September/October 2012, with the final Cycling Strategy being published in December 2012.