Precious hedge prevents cycle path going ahead

A hedge has stopped a £40,000 cycle route through a Nottinghamshire town in its tracks.

Residents in the town of Bingham, nine miles from Nottingham, objected to county council plans to install a route along the path between Long Acre East and Oak Avenue as part of a wider scheme.

According to the Newark Advertiser,  Paul Hillier, the council’s local transport plan programme manager, said it had been cancelled after listening to residents’ objections.

He said: “It isn’t wide enough to ensure that a cyclist could safely pass a pedestrian and we needed to remove a hedgerow to widen the path. The residents nearby asked us not to remove it.”

Local resident  Sammie Adams said: “We were most alarmed about the plan and are so happy that it has been saved.

“We objected because of the amount of wildlife there. There are rare birds in there, including redwings, goldfinches and sparrows — we would have lost all of those.”

Mrs Adams said it was initially classed as vegetation, but research had shown it was a hedge.

She said: “They were saying that the cycle path would help the environment but taking out the hedge is not helping the environment.”

The cancellation of the route cuts the cost of the project to £90,000.

As part of the scheme, £71,600 is being spent on a toucan crossing, for pedestrians and cyclists, on Nottingham Road.

The crossing is being installed because it connects a network of cycle routes around the town that the council is creating to encourage more cycling and reduce the burden on the town centre car parks.

The cycle path on Nottingham Road is part of the National Cycle Network (Route 15) and provides a key link for cyclists between Nottingham and Grantham.