Lee Waters MS

Posted on Left Foot Forward on May 10th 2012 If local councils are expected to provide a network of roads for cars, why not a network of routes for people to walk and cycle? That was the initial thought that sparked the campaign which yesterday saw the Welsh government announce plans to make Wales the first country in the world to place a legal duty on councils to provide a network of routes for ‘active travel’. If local councils are expected to provide a network of roads for cars, why not a network of routes for people to walk and cycle? That was the initial thought that sparked the campaign which yesterday saw the Welsh government announce plans to make Wales the first country in the world to place a legal duty on councils to provide a network of routes for ‘active travel’. As the bill’s ‘active travel’ title suggests, the proposal is as much about health policy as it is about transport. The NHS in Wales spends £1m every week treating obesity-related illness. As some of t...

Published in the Western Mail on 10 May 2012 Wales is to become the first country in the world to require councils to provide routes for walking and cycling  A stereotypical cyclist, Boris Johnson explained during the London mayoral campaign, is someone with whippet-thin brown legs or dreadlocks who charges around in Lycra, jumping lights. Not the most seductive role model. The sense that cycling is a fairly eccentric pursuit has been widespread, and confirmed by a major study last year which suggested that most people don’t regard cycling as something for them. “It is either a toy for children or a vehicle fit for the poor and or strange. For them cycling is a bit embarrassing” according to Dave Horton one of the research authors at Lancaster University. Hardly surprising really given that just 2% of journeys are by bike. By definition it is not something that most people do. But survey after survey has shown that it is something that many more people would consider ...