Rural Cycling Infrastructure

Valerie Vaz Excerpts

Tuesday 10th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Freddie van Mierlo]

I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. I agree that we could make better use of the significant infrastructure that is already in place, whether that is canal towpaths or former railways and other such infrastructure.

I am calling on the Government today to commit to investing in safe, off-road cycling routes and segregated cycle lanes in rural areas. In Oxfordshire, I am pleased to share with this Chamber that the Liberal Democrat-led administration is taking steps to link up towns and villages that are characteristic of the stunning Chilterns national landscape, Oxford green belt and wider open countryside. The county has adopted Vision Zero, the ambition to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 2030. It has already developed a strategic active travel network that draws lines on the map of prioritised cycle routes that would connect towns and villages to one another and to Oxford and cities of the surrounding counties. Yet for now, they remain just lines on a map, unfunded. The county adopted a new model to replace the old car-centric “predict and provide” methodology for deciding infrastructure and replaced it with “decide and provide”. Oxfordshire has decided, but it lacks the central Government funding needed to provide.

Even getting a simple project off the ground is a challenge. The Thame to Haddenham greenway is a project that has been mooted for more than 20 years. It would connect the market town of Thame, the largest settlement in the Henley and Thame constituency, to the nearby village of Haddenham in Buckinghamshire, just two miles away. Crucially, Haddenham is host to the Thame and Haddenham Parkway rail station that links the town to London. Cycling from Thame to Haddenham currently requires a high degree of confidence and a tolerance for risk to mix in alongside the heavy traffic of the A418.

The wildly popular Phoenix trail from Thame to Princes Risborough already proves high demand for off-road rural cycle infrastructure, but it is not just funding that is stifling the rural cycling revolution. Compulsory purchase powers are often wielded to make progress on road projects but are not used to deliver cycle infrastructure. This means that most projects barely get beyond the idea phase.

A cycleway that links Chinnor to Watlington via the village of Lewknor in my constituency, which sits just next to the M40, would transform the lives of thousands of people by providing an active travel link to London and Oxford via the Oxford tube. However, ideas never make it beyond a general agreement that it would be quite nice, because local landowners oppose it. I urge the Government to break free from the visionless Conservative legacy and take on these barriers to change. The Government must stop the lip service of the past.

In 2017, a walking and cycling strategy aimed to make active travel a natural choice. The Department for Transport active travel fund was set up to reallocate road space to cyclists and pedestrians and create an environment that is safer for walking and cycling. But words are cheap and here we are, seven years later. In rural areas, active travel is far from the natural choice.

In 2023, the Conservative Government, in a fit of reactionary culture wars, slashed the already paltry active travel budget from £200 million to just £50 million. Under this Government, I therefore welcome the increase in that budget to £150 million. However, let us not pretend that that will create a step change. The Conservatives had the budget at £200 million just three years ago. The Government should deliver on their promise to invest at unprecedented levels in active travel.

I hope that as a result of this debate, the Minister will consider increasing funding levels further for the 2025-26 period during the Department’s current planning discussion. I ask that because cycling in rural areas as a mode of transport will deliver concrete benefits for the economy, the environment, health and wellbeing. For every pound spent on cycling and walking schemes, £5.62-worth of wider benefits is achieved. In 2022, active travel contributed £36 billion to the economy. Cycling networks give rise to tourism and flourishing local businesses, encouraging institutions and services to set up in or return to areas.

It is a privilege and a joy to live surrounded by nature in the villages and towns of my constituency, but it can also be isolating. Many villages lack places to exercise and few have regular buses to the places that do. The latest data for Oxfordshire shows that 58% of people in the county are overweight, and one in three year 6 children are overweight or abuse. Cycling is an obvious means to increase physical activity in areas where small populations can make commercial or council-supported leisure centres unviable.

If we truly believe that there is a climate emergency, and I do, rural Britain must be part of the transformation, too. Reduced motor traffic limits carbon dioxide emissions and reduces nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, with both gases linked to respiratory failure, stroke, heart disease, dementia and premature death. Do not think that just because rural areas are surrounded by fields that the risk is not present in the countryside, too. Historic towns can create choke points, quite literally, as vehicles move through them. Watlington’s Couching Street has been an air quality management area since 2009, as traffic passes through in search of the M40. Again, cycling must be part of the picture, and that is before we talk about the mental health benefits, which I will perhaps leave others to touch on.

We have a golden opportunity over the next five years to see the transformation needed. I am willing to work cross-party with anyone in Government, and MPs and councillors across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, to seize it. I hope others will join me.

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

I expect to call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson at 5.46 pm, so given the number of Members wishing to speak, there will be an informal time limit of between four and five minutes.

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[James MacCleary]

Not being the Minister, I do not know, but I am sure that he will respond accordingly, and I hope that the answer will be yes, because that would be a fantastic thing to do. I know that county councils and other authorities have really struggled to find the funding for active travel undertakings across the country. We have certainly seen that in East Sussex, as the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) has in his area.

Cycling is more than a recreational activity. It is an essential mode of transport that can improve public health, reduce carbon emissions and ease the financial burden of transport for households. Nationally, cycling directly contributes an estimated £5.4 billion annually to the economy, including £4.1 billion from reduced mortality, air pollution, and congestion. Every pound invested in walking and cycling infrastructure generates more than £5 in benefits. Cycling also promotes land-use efficiency, requiring far less space than roads or car parks—a critical consideration for creating greener, more liveable communities. For predominantly rural areas like mine, that represents an opportunity to create healthier, greener and more connected communities. Without serious investment, rural residents will continue to face unsafe roads, insufficient cycling facilities and limited transport options.

In communities like mine, the reality is stark. Public transport options are patchy and many depend on cars for short journeys. Safe and accessible cycling infrastructure could provide an alternative that is not only affordable, but sustainable. Where we have dedicated cycle routes, such as the outstanding separated cycling routes alongside the A27 between Lewes and Polegate in my constituency, they are often unconnected to any ongoing routes, which limits the number of people that can use them.

Better road maintenance is required. We need to create conditions in which cycling is a realistic option for commuting, shopping and even leisure—not just for the young, pale and male but for everybody. Inclusivity must be central to our approach. Whether it is for children cycling to school, older residents using e-bikes or families making short trips, cycling infrastructure should cater to a diverse range of needs. It is about ensuring that everybody can benefit from the independence, affordability and health benefits that cycling offers.

The Liberal Democrats have been clear in our commitment to reverse funding cuts and in pushing for a nationwide active travel strategy. In rural areas, that includes prioritising safe cycling routes, linking active travel to public transport and ensuring that local councils have the resources to tackle potholes and maintain pavements and cycleways, as well as to invest in active travel infrastructure. I urge the Government to recognise that cycling is not just a solution for urban areas, but a vital tool for rural communities. By investing in cycling infrastructure, we can reduce transport poverty, improve public health and build a greener future for areas like Sussex. Let us not miss this opportunity to make cycling safe, accessible and inclusive for all.

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

It is customary to wait to hear what the Minister says—you might be delighted.

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[Cameron Thomas (Tewkesbury) (LD)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo) for securing this debate, and the hon. Member for Mid Cheshire (Andrew Cooper) for his excellent pun.

My home constituency of Tewkesbury is a patchwork of rural towns and villages. Public transport is either scarce or entirely absent, so cycling is an oft relied-upon mode of transport. Safe, managed cycle routes are vital for many of my constituents as a means to connect with our cathedral city of Gloucester to our south, the cultural centre of Cheltenham to our east, and the medieval town of Tewkesbury to our west. Only in those larger population centres can many of my constituents access their hospitals, schools, stores or social clubs.

Cycling in our rural communities comes at significant risk. As has already been stated, according to at least one study, cyclists involved in collisions on rural roads are more than twice as likely to suffer mortality than those on urban roads. There are several factors for that, including the time it takes for emergency services to arrive from major hospitals to our rural villages. Another factor seems to be that cycling infrastructure and roads in rural areas are poorly funded or neglected. Apparently, cycling routes are rarely considered alongside major highways infrastructure projects. There must be joined-up thinking to such projects to improve the viability of cycling as an environmentally friendly and healthy alternative to driving.

The Gloucestershire cycle spine is an ambitious plan to link Gloucestershire’s major population centres with some of our emerging population centres. The plan was initially met with significant public support, but several shortcomings with it have since caused outcry. Issues cited by residents in Longlevens including the fact that the camber of the cycleway draws water away from drainage and floods their properties with rainwater. In Churchdown, the road has been so narrowed to accommodate the cycleway that larger vehicles can now barely pass each other in places. A clear opportunity to link a cycleway to our heritage railway was missed.

This is not a pitch against such schemes; it is a call to keep the public engaged and ensure the projects are implemented not piecemeal but as a joined-up infrastructure plan so that the “so whats” are asked and answered ahead of the works. I am disappointed to learn that a shortfall in the central Government funding for Gloucestershire county council could mean a significant drop in the allocation for the Gloucestershire cycle spine. Consequently, the 14,000 residents of Bishop’s Cleeve will remain cut off from it.

Like other transport networks, cycling needs to be treated as a vital part of our infrastructure. It must be planned strategically and funded sustainably for the long term.

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

If no other Members wish to speak, I call the Lib Dem spokesperson, Steff Aquarone.

[Steff Aquarone (North Norfolk) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo) on securing this debate on such an important issue. He is a great champion of this cause. I know that he and his Liberal Democrat colleagues across Oxfordshire will continue to push for progress in their area.

I refer Members to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a member of Norfolk county council, but I must declare an even more important interest, which is that I am a rural cyclist. It is for that reason that I am so pleased to respond to today’s debate for the Liberal Democrats.

In my area, we have some fantastic cycling routes. In Wells and Holkham, people can join national cycle network route 1 and travel through the north of the constituency as part of the Norfolk-wide rebellion way. Towards North Walsham, we have the Weavers way, which takes in much of the track bed of the former Midland and Great Northern joint railway.

The Liberal Democrats and I are ambitious for the future of rural cycling across the country. We want to see new cycle networks, and locally Liberal Democrats are working with communities to deliver on new cycling schemes in their local areas. It is a great shame that the previous Conservative Government did not match our ambition or enthusiasm for the future of cycling. They ruthlessly cut £200 million from the active transport budget, just after so many of us rediscovered our love for walking and cycling during lockdown.

That neglect for walking and cycling seems endemic within the Conservatives. Our Conservative-led county council has sunk £50 million into the white elephant that is the 6 km western link road. The legal and exploratory costs alone could have instead funded high-quality cycle super-highways six times the eventual proposed distance of that road. With attitudes like that, it is easy to see how our rural cycling infrastructure has deteriorated so badly over the previous decade, with Norfolk losing many of its routes from the national cycle network in 2020 after years of neglect and lack of upkeep.

Cycling will play a key part in the rural transport revolution, which so many parts of our country desperately need. We must make sure that cycling routes join up with public transport networks, so that people can safely and easily cycle to their nearest train or bus station. In my rural area, we have one of the highest levels of road per person in the country, and we cannot afford to maintain them all. Is it not time that we looked to convert underused and under-classified roads into access-only roads that prioritise walking and cycling? I am sure that many people would far rather hear the dinging of bike bells nearby than large lorries clattering through small country lanes.

I am passionate about seeing an improvement in rural cycling infrastructure across Norfolk and the rest of the country. Making cycling more accessible and attractive has only benefits. It keeps us healthier, it reduces carbon emissions and it gives us greater opportunity to explore and enjoy our natural environment. I very much hope that we hear from the Minister that the Government will match the passion and ambition of Liberal Democrats across the country to deliver better cycling infrastructure for us all.

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

I call the Opposition spokesperson.