BH Active Travel celebrate £3.78m allocated to BCP Council

BH Active Travel said this was a “great result” for the area and thanked the council for their continuing work to bid for grants such as this.

As reported, the local authority will receive £3.78m from Active Travel England, which will go towards five active travel projects in the conurbation.

Lucie Allen, chair of the group, said she was “delighted” to find out the council had been awarded the funds.

She said: “We understand the BCP Officers have been working hard on the bids to complete some of the cycle, walking and wheeling routes that are outside of the Transforming Cities Fund schemes.

“£3.7m might sound like a lot of money but highways construction is an expensive business and it’s great that Active Travel England have said that they will help BCP Council ensure that designs and implementation are done to a high standard and more importantly, delivered quickly.”

In particular, the group were pleased to see the funds allocated to School Streets in the area and it hopes money will be spent on ANPR cameras to enforce the closures.

It welcomed the extra work to be carried out in Baiter and Whitecliff parks, along with the new crossings for both cycling, wheeling and walking.

Lucie said the group are interested to see what plans are drawn up for Wallisdown roundabout, saying the area is “currently really tricky to navigate and feels very car-centric”.

The group did express their disappointment that funds would not be allocated to low traffic neighbourhoods, saying they are a “cost-effective way to encourage active travel”.

But, overall, BH Active Travel said it was “thrilled” that the council had been allocated the funds, and that residents would “see some of the ‘missing links’ come together.”

“The active travel budget from central government is still minuscule compared to the road building budget and it’s therefore crucial that any funding is spent wisely,” Lucie said.

“All in all, a great result for BCP and we thank the Council for continuing to bid for measures which create safer and more pleasant areas for people to live in a healthier and more sustainable way.”