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news
County Hall, Taunton - licensed CC BY-SA 2.0 by Martin Southwood on Wikimedia CommonsSomerset County Council deserves “gold medal” for its words on active travel – but “the wooden spoon” for its actions, says campaigner
A cycling campaigner says Somerset County Council deserves a “gold medal” for its words in support of active travel – but “the wooden spoon” when it comes to putting them in action. The council meanwhile insists that it wants to back active travel schemes in the county – but says funding is an issue.
Its defence of its ambitions for walking and cycling comes ahead of a planned ‘Wake Up Somerset County Highways’ protest from noon tomorrow (Wednesday) outside County Hall in Taunton, reports the Somerset County Gazette.
The rally, organised by the Taunton Area Cycling Campaign (TACC) will see a placard containing a list of nine requests to make conditions better for the county’s cyclists delivered to the county’s highways department.
TACC points out that the government is urging local authorities to bring in cycling and walking scheme, that lower motor traffic levels during lockdown last year encouraged people to walk and cycle more and that active travel has a key role to play in combating the climate emergency.
“But still progress in Somerset is painfully slow,” said a spokesperson. “There is a marked contrast with progress in Devon, for example. Devon has recognised the economic benefits of traffic free routes, which have become important visitor attractions.
“We are calling on the County, yet again, to show leadership, be innovative, work with communities and up the pace of change.”
TACC chair Pip Sheard said: "After four years of trying to work positively with Somerset County Highways , TACC members have come to the conclusion that as a department it is slow, stuck in the past (about the 1970s) producing poor old fashioned cycle route design and its attitude to working with local groups is an obstacle to positive change.
“We are not alone – cycling and walking groups all over Somerset feel frustrated at the lack of positive progress on developing these modes of transport which could be of great benefit to Somerset's economy, its environment, residents health and wellbeing and in reducing traffic to meet national climate change commitments.”
Meanwhile, Matt Gilson of the Wells Cycle Group, said: “When it comes to warm words and reports on active travel, Somerset County Council would get a gold medal. But for meaningful and sustained implementation, it gets the wooden spoon.”
A spokesperson for the council’s highway department said: “We are committed to making improvements to encourage cycling and would like to thank Taunton Area Cycling Campaign for sharing their latest ideas.
“We hope they understand that in designing and delivering schemes we have to balance the needs of all road users, including pedestrians, and sometimes there are funding or practical limitations which mean we cannot accommodate all requests.
“We are keen to continue our ongoing engagement with TACC, and other cycling groups, to both highlight the case to Government for further funding for cycling infrastructure in rural counties such as Somerset and work along our contractors to improve how cyclists can be accommodated during major road works,” the spokesperson added.
Somerset was awarded £120,000 under the first tranche of the Department for Transport’s emergency active travel fund last year, which it says enabled it to launch “a number of trial schemes.”
Under the second tranche of funding it received £457,900 which was spent on cycling and walking schemes in Bridgwater, Frome, Taunton and Yeovil.
In June this year, 10 organisations representing cyclists and pedestrians in Somerset wrote a joint letter to the council urging it to support plans from district councils in the county to improve cycling and walking routes.
Besides TACC and the Wells City Council Cycling Group, the letter was signed by representatives of the Bridgwater Area Cycling Campaign, the Bruton Safer Cycling and Walking Group, Cheddar Walking, Frome’s Missing Links, Glastonbury Active Travel, Green Wedmore, The Somerset Rail to Trail Project and The Strawberry Line Association.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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25 comments
I found their manifesto at
https://thetacc.org.uk/manifesto/
and an open letter they sent to the county council highways dept in June here
https://thetacc.org.uk/active-travel-groups-ask-somerset-county-council-...
(but none of it has nine points...).
In the light of 'funding or practical limitations', it'd make sense to reduce their spend on roads by closing half of the roads (i.e. close one lane out of two) and simply allocating that space to pedestrians and cyclists. That'd reduce their spend on road maintenance and to be honest, it's the motor vehicles that introduce expensive requirements as pedestrians and cyclists can cope with variable size lanes and don't require a huge amount of land set aside for storage when their feet/bikes aren't in use.
Alternatively, the council could set aside the amount of money they receive from road tax (specifically not including VED) and use that to spend on new roads and car parks.
I don't understand the second para.
It's a new road funding initiative designed to align with certain motorists' view of the world.
Ah, I get you now.
I was slightly confused, as at one point there was a plan to hypothecate a proportion of ved to major trunk roads and mways. Though I think that was dropped a year or 2 ago.
any chance of highlighting what these 9 requests by the Taunton cycling group are ?
as we know with active travel funding schemes, councils had to publish their plans, so we should know exactly what Somerset planned to do with the money and can measure their progress against it. Those schemes had to get approval from the DfT under their strict funding criteria, which was certainly for tranche 2 funding specifically for removing space from motor vehicles, transformative and not just paint on roads, councils that bid for such stuff had their bids reduced by the DfT, Somerset got exactly the full amount they bid for in both tranches. But if the schemes werent implemented within the financial year the DfT would reclaim the money.
so theres a disconnect here, if the council were truly doing nothing with the money, theyd lose it, simple as that.
so whats really going on here ?
"we have to balance the needs of all road users"
It's good they understand this, because from where i am looking it appears they are only looking after the interests of motor vehicles. So when are they looking to redress this balance?
In the case of roads, balance=status quo.
Too often, local authorities think that their work involves having meetings and writing reports. They forget to go on to the next stage of making physical changes to the road network.
This is the wet dream of "small government."
Decisions have to be made, it is true, however then projects need to be kicked off, lead, managed and concluded, and then reviewed. That it all just magically happens on time, on scope, on budget for free, and then once implemented continue to maintain themselves is what politicians of a certain flavour seem to believe.
I've come to the conclusion that this ideology stems from a mix of laziness, a naive yet ideological belief in magic bullet solutions for complex issues, arrogance, inability to grasp the bigger picture, and general denial of society's requirements to function for all, not to mention living in cloud facking cuckoo land (all of the above is often too easy to maintain due to heinous lack of empathy for their less privileged fellow citizens).
Modern society and its required infrastructure is complex, and needs vision, dedication and funding to implement and maintain. Words themselves just don't cut it. Many in local (and national) govt are simply unable to grasp this, and then stymy other politicians and parties in real and pragmatic attempts to make improvements.
Facking "climate emergency", declared by many councils around the UK. Then tumbleweed, and business as usual. Case in point.
"Funding" is just code for priorities. Whatever such money as they do have gets spent on depends not on how much money they have, but on what they choose to spend it. That is a question of priorities.
Well done Pip and TACC for highlighting the hypocrisy of the councils which say one thing and do another, mostly, but not exclusively tories.
It is staggering that in the middle of obesity and climate emergencies, chronic congestion and pollution, councils have to be dragged kicking and screaming to implement their own policies. As I know from bitter experience with South Glos council, which had wonderful, brilliant policies, all that any cycle campaigner could ask for, on the ground, nothing changed, and anything for cyclists only happened if there was not the slightest inconvenience to drivers.
This isn't the first time this week that I've seen you show.... sympathetic tendencies, my friend
Is your resolve weakening comrade? a spell in the gulag might strengthen your commitment....
No no no! Honestly, there were no sympathetic tendencies, it was a mistake, I'll forswear tories forever!
Under this government, a gulag might be a desirable option.
Just checking....
Well, 'business' is asking whether they can use prisoners to make up for all those pesky foreigners who chose not to come back to the UK after Brexit.
Work camps, anyone?
(OK, maybe slight hyperbole...).
That's the U.S. model
IKEA was fond of it too I understand
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ikea-used-forced-prison...
They were going to be prosecuted for tax evasion, but the prosecution's having a really hard time putting their case together
To be fair, it wasn't their fault - they just completed their accounts and found they had a bunch of bits left over.
Apparently 1 out of every 10 Europeans were conceived on an IKEA bed which is really surprising as their shops are always well lit and pretty busy
And the Chinese model (but only if you generally worship in a mosque).
Deep sigh. The same old phrase "we have to balance the needs of all road users..."
Wake up Somerset CC, the UK government has said you must prioritise active travel. The days of balancing the needs of all road users, i.e. not inconveniencing car drivers, are over.
Agreed, it's code for doing nothing.
It has echoes of 'cyclists and motor vehicles will just have to co-exist', which is like telling chickens and foxes they will have to co-exist - very easy for the foxes.
Same in pretty much ALL of the Tory shires..... Warm words....lots of handwringing....and no action..... Cambridgeshire was a fine 2020 example.... warm words at Tranche 1 proposals and outside of Cambridge....NOTHING got implemented.....as usual. Tories are all Free Market until it comes to Transport....they go all Communist over roads and cars
Now we have a No Overall Control at the County Council....and a Labour Mayor....who promotes Active Travel one has to hope it will change