New walking and cycling paths en route in County Durham

WORK to find potential improvements to walking and cycling infrastructure has been carried out in more of County Durham’s main towns and villages.
Durham County Council’s Cabinet will this week look to adopt Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) which have been drafted for Bishop Auckland, Consett, Crook, Peterlee, Seaham, Spennymoor, Shildon and Stanley.
Such plans have already been adopted for Durham City, Chester-le-Street and Newton Aycliffe and are part of a major programme of work the council is delivering to encourage active travel.
Coun Elizabeth Scott, the authority’s Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: “Improving active travel infrastructure across County Durham is a real focus for us.
“Making it easier for people to walk and cycle benefits their health and well-being as well as the environment by reducing reliance on cars which reduces carbon emissions.
“It is also very much in line with our new Inclusive Economic Strategy as it improves connectivity, helping people get to work, the shops and leisure and cultural sites.
“We are really pleased to have carried out work in eight more of our main centres and, should Cabinet adopt them, we look forward to the plans forming the basis of future funding bids.”

The meeting on Wednesday, June 14 will hear how the government’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (2017) recommends local authorities prepare LCWIPs.
The Infrastructure Plans stem from serious studies of ways to make cycling and walking improvements to encourage active travel in the short, medium and long term.
Councillors will be reminded that the previously adopted Strategic Cycling and Walking Delivery Plan 2019-2029 sets out the authority’s commitment to producing the plans for the county’s 12 main towns.

LCWIPs “support the county council with making the case for future funding, particularly as the government is prioritising funding for those authorities which have developed such plans,” the report points out..

The first three LCWIPs were adopted in October 2021 and on the back of that, the council secured £177,586 funding from the government’s Active Travel Capability Fund to continue the work across its nine other main centres.

The money was also to allow the authority to develop an ‘LCWIP Lite’ methodology which is a streamlined approach to developing plans for rural routes and smaller settlements.
A 12th main settlement – Barnard Castle – will become the first LCWIP Lite town, with its plan including proposals better suited to the rural nature of the area.
Should the plans be adopted, the council will take priority routes from the eight town LCWIPs to the outline design stage, and further develop the LCWIP Lite methodology.
Work will also be carried out on proposed routes within five miles of the Durham City project.
Across the county, the authority is delivering many infrastructure schemes, projects, campaigns and initiatives to enable and encourage more people to walk and cycle as an active mode of transport.
This is both as part of its long-term approach, through the Strategic Cycling and Walking Delivery Plan 2019-2029, and in response to new opportunities and funding bids developed by the authority and through partnership working.