The petition of residents of the constituency of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire
Declares that the greenway between Radcliffe-on-Trent and Cotgrave—used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders—is a cherished local asset which, since January 2024, has been out of action due to unauthorised work on one of its embankments; and further declares that almost two years on, despite frequent chasing by residents and resident groups, Parish, Borough and County Councillors, and the Member of Parliament for the impacted area, there has been no clarity provided about the likely costs and timelines for reinstatement, leaving residents in the dark.
The petitioners, therefore, request that the House of Commons urges the Government to work with Nottinghamshire County Council to provide much-needed public clarity about the status of the Radcliffe-on-Trent to Cotgrave greenway; to provide a clear timeline for a decision to be taken about the greenway’s future; to seek to hold the perpetrators who caused the damage to account; and to prioritise the reinstatement of this much-loved active travel asset as part of its budget setting process for financial year 2026-27.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by James Naish, Official Report, 15 December 2025; Vol. 777, c. 725.]
[P003150]
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Lilian Greenwood):
This Government are committed to supporting walking, wheeling and cycling, and, to this end, on 10 December 2025 we announced £626 million for local authorities from 2026 to ’30 to deliver new active travel schemes, building on nearly £300 million already allocated for 2024 to ’26.
The multi-year investment is enough to deliver 500 miles of new and upgraded walking, wheeling and cycling routes, as well as 170,000 greener, more active trips per day, supporting the Government’s plan for change missions on public health, safer streets and economic renewal.
We have also recently undertaken a public consultation to inform the development of the third cycling and walking investment strategy, which we expect to publish in the first quarter of 2026. The consultation proposed a vision that by 2035, the Government want walking, wheeling and cycling to be a safe, easy and accessible option for everyone—allowing people to embed the economic, health and environmental benefits of active travel into their daily life if they choose.
I understand that the Radcliffe-on-Trent to Cotgrave greenway, known locally as the Cotgrave multi-user trail, provides a traffic-free link between Cotgrave and nearby Radcliffe, which has a rail station on the Nottingham to Grantham line. As such, I can appreciate that the closure of this important link has had a significant impact locally, given the lack of traffic-free alternatives.
The trail is situated on the track bed of a former mineral railway. I understand that the embankment supporting the trail just north of where it crosses the A52 has slipped, forcing Nottinghamshire county council, which is responsible for the maintenance of the greenway, to close the trail for reasons of public safety.
I am advised that reinstating or strengthening the embankment is a complex engineering challenge, on which the authority is taking steps to scope potential solutions. Nottinghamshire county council will receive just over £6.7 million in active travel funding over the next four years, and this can of course be used to support any remedial works to the greenway.
Active Travel England will stay in close contact with the authority on this issue.