Active Travel England (ATE) has just announced a new £200 million funding pot with the aim to improve walking & cycling routes and boost local economies, and local authorities in England have been invited to apply for funding to bring forward the best schemes.
This is another step in a direction which is seeing ATE become increasingly influential in development planning, as they have also been announced as a statutory consultee in the planning process from 1st June 2023, with their role being to advise local authorities on the merits of a scheme’s active travel provisions. Markides Associates’ Senior Transport Planner Will Salt covers this aspect in further detail in his recent article. (Click here to read)
The ATE Funding announcement suggests that the monies could be used for the following:
· Creating more paths in rural areas
· Developing safer routes for children to walk to school
· Improved safety at junctions for people walking and cycling
Notably, the press-release also refers to studies which show that 1 in 2 women feel unsafe walking after dark in a quiet street near their home. Thus, local authorities will also need to show that their proposed schemes have accounted for women’s safety.
Values of placemaking and sustainability are now at the forefront, which presents a notable shift in the way we approach planning; seeking to ensure that we develop places for people instead of cars. This push is also key to achieving ambitions for net-zero in the UK, as well as improving public health, and boosting local economies.
Local authorities best placed to benefit from this announcement will be those who have Local Walking & Cycling Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) recently completed, as they provide a strong evidence base along with ready-made schemes.
Local authorities who have yet to adopt their LCWIPs would likely benefit from designing their preferred schemes with a focus on the ATE funding pot; looking at paths in rural areas, routes for children to walk to school, improving safety at junctions for walking and cycling, and women’s safety.
Unsure about your evidence base / how to secure funding?
We are here to help and can assist Local Authorities with the production of their LCWIPs, as well as securing funding by undertaking Business Cases. We pride ourselves on our core values of placemaking and sustainability achieved through high quality technical design, promoting sustainable solutions as part of schemes since our inception.
