Ceredigion residents to have their say on future Active Travel routes

Ceredigion County Council has commenced a 12-week consultation period on both existing and planned walking and cycling (Active Travel) routes in the county, beginning today.

The consultation follows walking and cycling consultations which took place earlier this year with a total of 1,003 active participants and 778 comments received.

The Council, with the support of Sustrans, has carefully considered all the comments and combined this public opinion together with other relevant information to produce a draft Active Travel Network Map (ATNM) for each of the 3 designated settlements in the County: Aberystwyth, Cardigan and Lampeter.

As a result there are an additional 49Km of walking and cycling future routes on the draft Active Travel Network Map being consulted on, compared to the map that was approved in 2017.

The maps for designated settlements show:

• Where routes require improvement and where new routes are needed (labelled “Future Routes”).

• Routes that already meet the appropriate standard for design of an active travel route (labelled “Existing Routes”)

The outcome of the review will provide Ceredigion County Council with a forward plan of routes that it will use to inform where future improvements to walking and cycling can be made within the County. It will help to make journeys on foot or by bike more accessible and safer for everyone, particularly those who don’t currently walk or cycle often and people who may use mobility aids.

The Council is now inviting residents to let it know if the proposed routes are more likely to help them get around their local area as a pedestrian or cyclist. If not, the council is asking you to consider what other improvements may be appropriate.

Active Travel, aimed at giving as many people as possible the ability to choose an alternative to motorised travel, is defined as walking and cycling for everyday purposeful short-distance journeys, not including journeys purely made for recreation or social reasons.

The council’s ATNM has been reviewed, taking into account earlier comments received from the public and interested parties, and a new Consultation Draft ATNM has now been prepared. This sets out existing routes in built-up areas and the Council’s aspirations for the next 15 years, noting that construction of “Future Routes” will be subject to grant funding applications, availability of land, environmental and drainage conditions etc.

In support of this public engagement, County Councillor Dafydd Edwards, Ceredigion County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Environmental Services, Housing and Customer Contact said: “As someone who never walks, it is important to have the views of the people who have pleasure in walking and cycling what they would like to see included in an active travel map.’

The consultation can be viewed here: https://ceredigion3.commonplace.is/

For further information on Active Travel in Ceredigion, please visit our webpage: Active Travel.