PROMOTING ACTIVE TRAVEL

Project Introduction

This project was launched in 2020 to enable more people to cycle and walk, particularly for those shorter local journeys.

For this to succeed a safe and inviting cycling/walking network of pathways and routes is required which can be used by everybody in the community.

Originally launched by Oldland Parish Council as the Cycling & Walking Steering Group, this has now grown to include representation and support from local residents and several parish/town councils (including Bitton, Downend & Bromley Heath, Emersons Green, Hanham Abbots, Keynsham, Oldland & Siston), South Gloucestershire Council and Bath & North East Somerset Council.

Reflecting this cross-border collaboration and the broadened involvement the group was renamed the Bristol East Fringe Cycling & Walking Group.

Project Overview

The benefits of cycling and walking are now widely accepted including the positive effects on health, wellbeing, traffic congestion & pollution. The Coronavirus pandemic further reinforced the need to introduce enhanced high-quality space for pedestrians and cyclists.

Government and local authorities, including the West of England Combined Authority, continue to launch campaigns and funding schemes to promote and support cycling & walking. Working with local partners we want to take full advantage of this opportunity to make positive and practical changes to improve the existing active travel network in the Bristol east fringe area.

Active Travel Network – Our Aspiration

To enable people to choose to walk & cycle instead of using their cars will require an improved local cycle/walking network which has the following key features:

Inclusive – so everybody can use it – including pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users, mobility scooter users, etc.

Inviting – people will want to use it – it will be pleasant to use

Integrated – it will be a joined-up network with good connectivity and route directions.

Inherently Safe – the network should be designed to the high standards now being advocated by central government, which also effectively set the design requirements for funding to be approved.

Community Consultation

As part of the original project launch, an online consultation exercise was carried out to see where people felt improvements are required to make cycling/walking safer, attractive and more convenient, including links between neighbouring areas.

The findings from this consultation are summarised in the following report:

Oldland Parish Active Travel Online Consultation Summary – SG 12 Jan 2021

Submitted comments/ideas have been consolidated into the following Issues Log which will be used by the Group to prioritise & track actions placed to address the issues raised and monitor the outcomes.

Cycling & Walking Issues Log Update 18th February 2022

Although closed for comments, all consultation responses can still be viewed at the following Commonplace community engagement website:

https://oldlandactivetravel.commonplace.is/

Group Campaigns

As a result of this initial online consultation, the following campaigns were launched:

Keynsham Rd Shared Path Improvement
Ring Road Path Improvement
Railway Path Improvement

Progress

The latest progress for these campaigns is given below:

BEFCWG Campaign Progress July 2023.pdf

Group Objectives

The group objectives for the next 12 months were reviewed and updated in April 2023 – these are given below:

BEFCWG Objectives Update April 2023.pdf

Please note, Oldland Parish Council is aware that some documents on this page may not meet accessibility requirements. If you require additional help accessing any of the information contained within these documents please contact the Clerk

Get in Touch

The Bristol East Fringe Cycling & Walking Group wishes to thank everybody who has contributed to this project to date and encourages anybody who has views and ideas on this subject to get in touch by contacting Jon Parker on 07504 841569 or Steve Skidmore on 07896 326737 or join one of our future group meetings.