IN YOUR report “Cyclists go down petition path in a bid for new route” (September 26) you quoted Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth as saying that it was unlikely that the proposed path between Eynsham and Botley would ever happen.

Cllr Hudspeth said no such thing, as the 50 people in the room will know. On the contrary, he recognised that traffic congestion and the costs it imposes are so serious that the county council has to enable more people to choose to travel for all or part of their journey by means other than private cars.

How to pay for such investment is a genuine question, but Bike Safe has never expected the council to pay the whole cost of the path. We are paying for the pre-construction costs “which removes a major risk from the county” and have said on numerous occasions that we will match fund the county council’s contribution.

The B4044 path is fully consistent with Cllr Hudspeth’s vision of “Connecting Oxfordshire”. Our towns and cities cannot cope with more and more vehicles flowing into them.

That is why we believe significantly increased investment in cycling should be an essential ingredient in the new local transport plan. The B4044 path could be the first step towards creating a world-class cycling network in the county.The needs of an expanding economy and population and of improving public health will not be achieved by a transport policy biased towards more hamburger roundabouts and wider roads.

Ian Leggett Chairman, Bike Safe

Phil Loder, Communications Officer, Bike Safe

  • NB: The comments from Mr Hudspeth were made to our reporter Alex Wynick in a telelphone interview not at theHill End meeting Bike Safe is referring to

Today’s letters

 

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