"Don’t tarmac our beautiful old bridleway", plead Guildford campaigners
Users of an ancient tree-lined bridleway near Guildford are distraught at plans to replace it with a lit-up tarmacked cycle route.
Users of an ancient tree-lined bridleway near Guildford are distraught at plans to replace it with a lit-up tarmacked cycle route.
Residents have now set up the Dagley Lane Preservation Group which said users of Dagley Lane, which runs alongside Shalford Road, face “a big blow” if the plans go ahead – but other locals think the bridleway is impassable at wet times of the year.
Surrey County Council said it wants to make the path more accessible by widening it to three metres and cutting back vegetation on either side.
Founder of the group Alison Hall, of Shalford, said: “Whilst Surrey County Council loudly pronounce that they are planting 1.2million trees in the county by 2030, they are planning to spend some of the active travel fund on ripping out dozens of trees to make way for tarmac.
“It’s going to change the environment forever, there’ll be no going back. It really is a big blow.”
Dagley Lane is one of nine ‘active travel’ schemes in Surrey aiming to enable communities to embrace more sustainable travel options, for which SCC received a total of £6.45m from the Department for Transport in December.
Ms Hall, who received an MBE for her charity’s work helping to develop self-sustainable communities in East Africa, said: “Having helped give a voice to people in Northern Uganda, I now feel like a voiceless person myself.”
An spokesman for the county council said: “We are always keen to listen to and engage with local residents, which is why we have started this consultation.
“Dagley Lane is a safer alternative for walkers and people on bikes than the A281, and by improving the surface and providing lighting it becomes a route that can be used all year round, allowing walkers and people on bikes to avoid the busy A281 in the winter.
“However no decision has been made yet regarding either the surface or lighting, and we will factor the results of the consultation into any decisions going forward.”
The new path would connect to existing cycle routes that reach Guildford and Godalming, and Ms Hall thinks speeding cyclists would put walkers off using the route.
According to the 2011 census, 1.8 per cent of people in the Guildford borough cycled to work while 8.2 per cent walked to work, though this could look very different a decade later.
Dagley Lane runs alongside Wey Valley Meadows, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and many worry that the proposed lights every 15 metres would disturb bats, owls, stag beetles, slow worms and dormice.
SCC says it is working with Surrey Wildlife Trust and there would be no lighting May-September to allow bats to breed and feed. Between October-April, for most of which time bats are hibernating, the path would be lit from dusk to 11pm and from 5am to dawn.
Scores of people have taken to the Guildford town past and present Facebook group to voice their, mostly hostile, opinions on the plans.
Karen Bailey said there was no need for lights as “bikes have lights and walkers have torches”, and the path was wide enough without cutting down trees.
Simon Firth replied that without light “the use of cycling is significantly reduced due to fears of personal safety”.
In another post, James Davis said it was “practically unusable during winter months” and a “hardened path would be a massive improvement as a motor traffic free link” and would “improve accessibility for wheelchairs and mobility scooters”.
Lisa Wellstood responded: “As a wheelchair user I’d rather it wasn’t destroyed in my name! I fully accept that there are parts of nature I will not be able to access all of the time.
“And there are far better options that are sensitive to the surroundings than tarmac.”
Guildford resident Sophie Garrett posted: “I’ve walked and cycled along there dozens and dozens of times in my life and I can’t say I’ve ever thought ‘Gee, this could do with a bit of tarmac’.”
Residents have now set up the Dagley Lane Preservation Group which said users of Dagley Lane, which runs alongside Shalford Road, face “a big blow” if the plans go ahead – but other locals think the bridleway is impassable at wet times of the year.
Surrey County Council said it wants to make the path more accessible by widening it to three metres and cutting back vegetation on either side.
Founder of the group Alison Hall, of Shalford, said: “Whilst Surrey County Council loudly pronounce that they are planting 1.2million trees in the county by 2030, they are planning to spend some of the active travel fund on ripping out dozens of trees to make way for tarmac.
“It’s going to change the environment forever, there’ll be no going back. It really is a big blow.”
Dagley Lane is one of nine ‘active travel’ schemes in Surrey aiming to enable communities to embrace more sustainable travel options, for which SCC received a total of £6.45m from the Department for Transport in December.
Ms Hall, who received an MBE for her charity’s work helping to develop self-sustainable communities in East Africa, said: “Having helped give a voice to people in Northern Uganda, I now feel like a voiceless person myself.”
An spokesman for the county council said: “We are always keen to listen to and engage with local residents, which is why we have started this consultation.
“Dagley Lane is a safer alternative for walkers and people on bikes than the A281, and by improving the surface and providing lighting it becomes a route that can be used all year round, allowing walkers and people on bikes to avoid the busy A281 in the winter.
“However no decision has been made yet regarding either the surface or lighting, and we will factor the results of the consultation into any decisions going forward.”
The new path would connect to existing cycle routes that reach Guildford and Godalming, and Ms Hall thinks speeding cyclists would put walkers off using the route.
According to the 2011 census, 1.8 per cent of people in the Guildford borough cycled to work while 8.2 per cent walked to work, though this could look very different a decade later.
Dagley Lane runs alongside Wey Valley Meadows, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and many worry that the proposed lights every 15 metres would disturb bats, owls, stag beetles, slow worms and dormice.
SCC says it is working with Surrey Wildlife Trust and there would be no lighting May-September to allow bats to breed and feed. Between October-April, for most of which time bats are hibernating, the path would be lit from dusk to 11pm and from 5am to dawn.
Scores of people have taken to the Guildford town past and present Facebook group to voice their, mostly hostile, opinions on the plans.
Karen Bailey said there was no need for lights as “bikes have lights and walkers have torches”, and the path was wide enough without cutting down trees.
Simon Firth replied that without light “the use of cycling is significantly reduced due to fears of personal safety”.
In another post, James Davis said it was “practically unusable during winter months” and a “hardened path would be a massive improvement as a motor traffic free link” and would “improve accessibility for wheelchairs and mobility scooters”.
Lisa Wellstood responded: “As a wheelchair user I’d rather it wasn’t destroyed in my name! I fully accept that there are parts of nature I will not be able to access all of the time.
“And there are far better options that are sensitive to the surroundings than tarmac.”
Guildford resident Sophie Garrett posted: “I’ve walked and cycled along there dozens and dozens of times in my life and I can’t say I’ve ever thought ‘Gee, this could do with a bit of tarmac’.”