That this House has considered cycling infrastructure in rural areas.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the Minister for being here to listen to this important debate, and I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am a member of Oxfordshire county council.
During my time living in the Netherlands as a young student, not so many years ago, I experienced at first hand the ease of cycling. Villages and towns are interconnected by safe cycle routes, which make taking a bike the obvious choice. I fondly remember cycling from my university in Leiden to the beach in Katwijk. Never once did I feel concerned about the quality of roads or any danger; never once did I feel the need to take a car.
Later, living in Brussels, I saw the stark differences between the traditionally cycle-friendly Flemish region and the car-dominated capital city. However, conscious policy decisions are changing cities. Brussels, like many capital cities across Europe, including our own, is now reclaiming road space from private motor vehicles and giving it over to active travel.
I am proud to be part of the administration in Oxfordshire that pedestrianised the famous Broad Street, much to the criticism of local Conservatives, and is rolling out further measures across the city. These policy decisions in cities demonstrate that there is no natural order to transport infrastructure. Transport choices are made consciously and by design. Although much more needs to be done in cities and towns, rural areas risk being left behind, and the consequences are paid in lives lost and lives ruined.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for giving way, and I congratulate him on securing this debate. He talked about connecting villages. In Oxford West and Abingdon we have Botley and Eynsham, which are both growing in population, but whenever designs are put forward, they are often missing the pots of money. Even though we tried to get a design linked to the expansion of the A40, we were told that we could not, because if we did, that bid would fail. That is entirely the opposite of what we would expect from a modal shift. Does my hon. Friend agree that the funding pots available and how they connect are at odds with what the Government say they want to do, particularly regarding a modal shift towards biking and other forms of active travel?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that funding is key to resolving these issues. In particular, slashing the active travel fund from £200 million to £50 million, as the Conservatives did in 2023, was shameful.
While much more needs to be done in towns and cities, more also needs to be done in rural areas. Mortality rates on rural roads are 2.7 times higher per mile cycled than on urban roads. If the Government continue to ignore rural areas in policy development, it could have devastating consequences.
I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate. I am very lucky that my constituency is interconnected by a series of rivers and canals, the Mid Cheshire waterways ring. When I am among council officers, I refer to it as “the fellowship of the ring”, just so they remember. It runs 26 miles around my constituency and is crying out to be used as a cycleway. It is far safer to use canal towpaths than traditional cycleways. They are already traffic-free, and it is much cheaper to develop the infrastructure and implement it. That potential no doubt exists nationwide. Does he agree that there is significant untapped potential for rolling out a cycle network across our canal towpath network?
I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. I agree that we could make better use of the significant infrastructure that is already in place, whether that is canal towpaths or former railways and other such infrastructure.
I am calling on the Government today to commit to investing in safe, off-road cycling routes and segregated cycle lanes in rural areas. In Oxfordshire, I am pleased to share with this Chamber that the Liberal Democrat-led administration is taking steps to link up towns and villages that are characteristic of the stunning Chilterns national landscape, Oxford green belt and wider open countryside. The county has adopted Vision Zero, the ambition to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 2030. It has already developed a strategic active travel network that draws lines on the map of prioritised cycle routes that would connect towns and villages to one another and to Oxford and cities of the surrounding counties. Yet for now, they remain just lines on a map, unfunded. The county adopted a new model to replace the old car-centric “predict and provide” methodology for deciding infrastructure and replaced it with “decide and provide”. Oxfordshire has decided, but it lacks the central Government funding needed to provide.
Even getting a simple project off the ground is a challenge. The Thame to Haddenham greenway is a project that has been mooted for more than 20 years. It would connect the market town of Thame, the largest settlement in the Henley and Thame constituency, to the nearby village of Haddenham in Buckinghamshire, just two miles away. Crucially, Haddenham is host to the Thame and Haddenham Parkway rail station that links the town to London. Cycling from Thame to Haddenham currently requires a high degree of confidence and a tolerance for risk to mix in alongside the heavy traffic of the A418.
The wildly popular Phoenix trail from Thame to Princes Risborough already proves high demand for off-road rural cycle infrastructure, but it is not just funding that is stifling the rural cycling revolution. Compulsory purchase powers are often wielded to make progress on road projects but are not used to deliver cycle infrastructure. This means that most projects barely get beyond the idea phase.
I expect to call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson at 5.46 pm, so given the number of Members wishing to speak, there will be an informal time limit of between four and five minutes.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. Cycling infrastructure in rural areas across my constituency is poor and, in most cases, non-existent. Too many of our towns and villages lack the connectivity required to make them easily reachable by bike, often including roads that cannot be cycled on and no feasible alternative routes. Even as a keen and confident sports cyclist, there are a number of routes in Huntingdon that I avoid using because they are objectively too dangerous to cycle on. That is evident when considering the impracticality of travelling into Huntingdon and St Ives by bicycle from many of our surrounding villages, which makes commuting by bike for work or school too difficult for too many.
St Ives is a town that desperately needs people to work and shop within it, yet it is largely reliant upon people driving into it. There are persistent traffic problems approaching the town from the east, with the Harrison Way roundabout a constant issue during peak times. Yet the Needingworth Road, which connects Colne, Bluntisham, Earith and Needingworth itself to St Ives, is the A1123—fast and arrow-straight, not well lit, and a road I would not advise anyone to cycle on.
Approaching St Ives from the north, we have the Somersham Road. Although only a B road, it is again arrow-straight and very fast, with significant use by lorries. It also includes the Wheatsheaf crossroads, which has seen a number of road traffic accidents. The county council is yet to spend the money that it has allocated to upgrade the junction and make it safer.
Huntingdon is particularly poorly served. In theory, the town has a cycle path around the ring road, but it is a shared cycle path with pedestrians that, in places, is no wider than a single individual. The tragic death of cyclist Celia Ward in 2020, who fell into the road after an altercation with a pedestrian on the cycle path, illustrates its unsuitability.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. Please accept my apologies, because I am likely to have to leave before the conclusion of the debate as I am hosting an event elsewhere on the estate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo) on securing this debate. It is a privilege to speak on a matter that is of great relevance to communities like those in my Lewes constituency.
While cycling is often associated with urban transport solutions, it holds untapped potential to transform rural areas, if we address the challenges that prevent it from being a viable option for many. Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Cycle Lewes annual general meeting. That dedicated group has been advocating for safer, more accessible cycling in Lewes and surrounding villages since 1998. Their work, from installing new cycle racks to critiquing transport plans that prioritise cars over active travel, is a testament to the power of local campaigning. However, as was made clear at the AGM, piecemeal progress cannot overcome the systemic barriers to cycling that rural communities face.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and I thank you for your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I am from Stroud and for the past six years, even before I became a politician, I have been trying to get a greenway established in the village of Dursley that would run for about six miles to the train station. I found that there was not even funding for a feasibility study, so at the moment, we cannot get it off the ground. So I want to ask the Minister whether there will be a fund to make feasibility studies of new routes.
Not being the Minister, I do not know, but I am sure that he will respond accordingly, and I hope that the answer will be yes, because that would be a fantastic thing to do. I know that county councils and other authorities have really struggled to find the funding for active travel undertakings across the country. We have certainly seen that in East Sussex, as the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) has in his area.
Cycling is more than a recreational activity. It is an essential mode of transport that can improve public health, reduce carbon emissions and ease the financial burden of transport for households. Nationally, cycling directly contributes an estimated £5.4 billion annually to the economy, including £4.1 billion from reduced mortality, air pollution, and congestion. Every pound invested in walking and cycling infrastructure generates more than £5 in benefits. Cycling also promotes land-use efficiency, requiring far less space than roads or car parks—a critical consideration for creating greener, more liveable communities. For predominantly rural areas like mine, that represents an opportunity to create healthier, greener and more connected communities. Without serious investment, rural residents will continue to face unsafe roads, insufficient cycling facilities and limited transport options.
In communities like mine, the reality is stark. Public transport options are patchy and many depend on cars for short journeys. Safe and accessible cycling infrastructure could provide an alternative that is not only affordable, but sustainable. Where we have dedicated cycle routes, such as the outstanding separated cycling routes alongside the A27 between Lewes and Polegate in my constituency, they are often unconnected to any ongoing routes, which limits the number of people that can use them.
Better road maintenance is required. We need to create conditions in which cycling is a realistic option for commuting, shopping and even leisure—not just for the young, pale and male but for everybody. Inclusivity must be central to our approach. Whether it is for children cycling to school, older residents using e-bikes or families making short trips, cycling infrastructure should cater to a diverse range of needs. It is about ensuring that everybody can benefit from the independence, affordability and health benefits that cycling offers.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo) for securing the debate.
Wokingham is a semi-rural constituency where it is possible to cycle between villages and towns, and to railway stations, schools and shops. National and local surveys tell us that the majority of people would be willing to do this, but they do not consider it to be safe. It is a difficult issue to resolve on narrow and busy country roads. Reducing speed limits can help, and the council is looking at some of them, but ultimately we need to invest in cycle routes away from the roads. The previous Government were funding such schemes, up until they decided that their electoral interest demanded otherwise, but since 2022 the funding available to local authorities has been wholly inadequate, and it remains so.
Shifting just a small proportion of local rural traffic from car to bike will help to solve many problems, including congestion, parking and air-quality issues in towns. There are mental and physical health benefits for those who cycle. The House of Commons Library has been helpful in pointing out a University of Oxford study that demonstrates the environmental benefits of active travel. Published in 2021, it found that switching just one trip a day from driving a car to cycling can reduce a person’s carbon footprint by 0.5 tonnes a year. As demonstrated by the Elizabeth line, if the infrastructure is there, people will use it. Across Europe, the benefits are being embraced, while the UK fails to recognise the return on investment that is waiting to be realised.
The former Secretary of State for Transport, the right hon. Member for Sheffield Heeley (Louise Haigh), stated that her Department would deliver “unprecedented levels of funding” for active travel; will the new Secretary of State commit to the same promise? Wokingham borough council has previously bid for an off-road route between Charvil and Twyford station; will the Minister commit to review the business case for investment in such cycling schemes?
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo) for securing this important debate on rural cycling infrastructure.
Members present appreciate the unique challenges faced by cyclists in rural areas, and the need to ensure their safety if we are to promote greater accessibility for cycling as a mode of transport. Rural roads present unique risks: they are typically narrower, less well maintained, and shared with fast-moving vehicles. In places in my West Dorset constituency roads are also shared with horse riders, who are similarly desperately in need of safety infrastructure.
The road conditions make cycling on roads disproportionately dangerous. Statistics show that cyclists are almost twice as likely to be killed on a rural road as on an urban one. For my constituency the challenge is clear: only 1.7% of people cycle to work, and that figure is well below the already appallingly low national average of 2.1%. Both figures reflect the deterrent effect of unsafe rural roads and the lack of cycling infrastructure, but also the wider picture of cycling in this country.
Cycling can provide an affordable, sustainable and accessible alternative for shorter journeys, not to mention the benefits to the environment and to physical and mental wellbeing. In West Dorset, 50% of people drive to work, 14% of households do not own a car and 30% of residents travel less than 10 km to work. That distance is more than achievable by bicycle for most individuals. Between Bridport and West Bay, the old railway has been repurposed as a cycling and walking path, with many residents hoping that it can be extended all along the old line to Maiden Newton to avoid their having to use country lanes. Similarly, an alternative cycle route between Bridport and Chideock would mean that residents and tourists alike could avoid the main coast artery of the A35, with its heavy goods vehicles.
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A cycleway that links Chinnor to Watlington via the village of Lewknor in my constituency, which sits just next to the M40, would transform the lives of thousands of people by providing an active travel link to London and Oxford via the Oxford tube. However, ideas never make it beyond a general agreement that it would be quite nice, because local landowners oppose it. I urge the Government to break free from the visionless Conservative legacy and take on these barriers to change. The Government must stop the lip service of the past.
In 2017, a walking and cycling strategy aimed to make active travel a natural choice. The Department for Transport active travel fund was set up to reallocate road space to cyclists and pedestrians and create an environment that is safer for walking and cycling. But words are cheap and here we are, seven years later. In rural areas, active travel is far from the natural choice.
In 2023, the Conservative Government, in a fit of reactionary culture wars, slashed the already paltry active travel budget from £200 million to just £50 million. Under this Government, I therefore welcome the increase in that budget to £150 million. However, let us not pretend that that will create a step change. The Conservatives had the budget at £200 million just three years ago. The Government should deliver on their promise to invest at unprecedented levels in active travel.
I hope that as a result of this debate, the Minister will consider increasing funding levels further for the 2025-26 period during the Department’s current planning discussion. I ask that because cycling in rural areas as a mode of transport will deliver concrete benefits for the economy, the environment, health and wellbeing. For every pound spent on cycling and walking schemes, £5.62-worth of wider benefits is achieved. In 2022, active travel contributed £36 billion to the economy. Cycling networks give rise to tourism and flourishing local businesses, encouraging institutions and services to set up in or return to areas.
It is a privilege and a joy to live surrounded by nature in the villages and towns of my constituency, but it can also be isolating. Many villages lack places to exercise and few have regular buses to the places that do. The latest data for Oxfordshire shows that 58% of people in the county are overweight, and one in three year 6 children are overweight or abuse. Cycling is an obvious means to increase physical activity in areas where small populations can make commercial or council-supported leisure centres unviable.
If we truly believe that there is a climate emergency, and I do, rural Britain must be part of the transformation, too. Reduced motor traffic limits carbon dioxide emissions and reduces nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, with both gases linked to respiratory failure, stroke, heart disease, dementia and premature death. Do not think that just because rural areas are surrounded by fields that the risk is not present in the countryside, too. Historic towns can create choke points, quite literally, as vehicles move through them. Watlington’s Couching Street has been an air quality management area since 2009, as traffic passes through in search of the M40. Again, cycling must be part of the picture, and that is before we talk about the mental health benefits, which I will perhaps leave others to touch on.
We have a golden opportunity over the next five years to see the transformation needed. I am willing to work cross-party with anyone in Government, and MPs and councillors across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, to seize it. I hope others will join me.
Approaching Huntingdon from villages to the north, towards the Wyton roundabout on the A141 into Hertford, is again a journey fraught with danger, and not one I would expect any cyclist to undertake as part of their daily commute. The A141 is one of the busiest and fastest roads in the constituency. In response to the recent consultation, I made it clear that cycling infrastructure must be considered in any new plans.
Meanwhile, there is only one current cycling infrastructure project under discussion in the constituency. As part of its plans to improve the national cycle network, Sustrans has proposed a quietway, closing the Grafham Road to motor vehicles between the villages of Grafham and Brampton. I regularly use that road as a cyclist, but it is also a vital lifeline between the two villages, and it reduces the need to take the more circuitous routes to the north and south that involve dual carriageways.
Opposition to the scheme from local residents, including those who are cyclists, has been significant, with many well-attended local parish meetings held to discuss it. The road is not busy, so a more sensible decision would be to reduce the speed limit from the current national speed limit to a more realistic 20 mph, thereby making the route far friendlier to pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians alike, without the need to ban motor vehicles and cut the village off.
In Tilbrook, the parish council is working hard to establish a feasibility assessment for the proposed “Kim Valley Way” cycle path, linking the villages of Tilbrook and Kimbolton and eliminating the need to cycle on a fast and sweeping country road with poor visibility on bends for those wishing to travel between the two villages by bike. It is schemes such as these—designed by locals, for locals—that we should invest our time and effort into delivering, rather than top-down diktats that lack local buy-in.
We must ensure that when cycling infrastructure is proposed, it is done so sympathetically and with the needs of local communities in mind. Attempting to railroad through a proposal because it looks good on paper is where schemes such as the Grafham quietway have gone wrong. A lack of engagement, a lack of understanding of rural needs and a lack of strategic planning are the reasons that we have reached the point where, in a constituency like Huntingdon, cycling is not considered to be viable for so many in rural communities.
The Liberal Democrats have been clear in our commitment to reverse funding cuts and in pushing for a nationwide active travel strategy. In rural areas, that includes prioritising safe cycling routes, linking active travel to public transport and ensuring that local councils have the resources to tackle potholes and maintain pavements and cycleways, as well as to invest in active travel infrastructure. I urge the Government to recognise that cycling is not just a solution for urban areas, but a vital tool for rural communities. By investing in cycling infrastructure, we can reduce transport poverty, improve public health and build a greener future for areas like Sussex. Let us not miss this opportunity to make cycling safe, accessible and inclusive for all.
Public transport in West Dorset is limited and irregular. Congestion on our few A roads and many country lanes causes delays and disruption in our villages. Cycling would reduce congestion, provide people with greater freedom to travel independently, reduce the environmental impact and support healthier lifestyles. I urge the Government to take immediate steps to address these issues and support rural constituencies such as West Dorset by making cycling a safer and more viable option.