Sustrans Connect2 project manager and its partner the National Trust sign the agreement which will guide the development of the new walking and cycling network over the coming years
Its one year since Sustrans' Connect2 won the TV vote to bring £50million of lottery funding to 79 communities across the UK to create networks for everyday journeys for people travelling by foot or bike.
On Wednesday 4th February, the multi-million pound scheme to connect Cambridge to Wicken Fen came a step closer as sustainable transport charity Sustrans and its Connect2 partner the National Trust sign the paperwork that will guide the development for the coming years.
This agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, confirms partners continued commitment to the scheme and pledges £600,000 from Sustrans' Connect2 lottery award to complete the network of traffic-free paths and quiet roads which will connect walkers and cyclists from the city to the countryside and cut to the heart of the Wicken Vision area.
This walking and cycling network will link to villages on the edge of the Vision area whilst the construction of a series of new bridges over the man-made waterways, known as Lodes, will dramatically enhance access throughout the area.
The newly finished Swaffham Bulbeck Lode Bridge is an essential part of the route and already offers opportunities for circular routes linking with Anglesey Abbey. A second bridge - the Reach Lode Bridge - is now being designed with the bridge opening being scheduled for 2010.
Over the next few years further work will be done at Reach and Burwell Lodes and also to improve links with Waterbeach and Anglesey Abbey itself, laying the foundations for thousands of people to walk or cycle to National Trust properties, nearby villages and throughout the Vision area to the benefit of both their health and the environment.
Chris Soans from the National Trust says: "I am delighted that we have now secured the funding for this very important project. This project will provide an essential link for walkers and cyclists alike and will help us try and minimise the impact of car traffic in the area where we have two very popular properties whilst at the same time significantly enhancing access to a vast area of open countryside."
Sustrans' Connect2 project manager, Tim Temple says: "We are delighted to be making this significant step towards completing the scheme linking Cambridge and Wicken Fen. In this era of concerns about the health of individuals and our environment, enabling more journeys to be made by foot and bike can only benefit our community."
This scheme has been made possible through the enormous popular support for Sustrans' Connect2 - as voted for by the public in the UK's largest lottery competition last December. Building on this public enthusiasm the scheme's Steering Group meets regularly in the surrounding villages, and will soon be mounting a series of events around the growing path network, inviting people to use it to the full.
Joan Lonsdale, Chairman of Burwell Parish Council, who sits on the Steering Group, says: "The scheme is making for easier access to some fascinating areas of countryside for our communities to enjoy and I am very pleased to be involved in the project".
The anticipated cost of the Cambridge to Wicken Fen scheme is in excess of £2.0million, with £600,000 coming from the Big Lottery Fund as part of Sustrans Connect2, and the remaining funding coming from other sources including the Housing Growth Fund.
The lottery award will join locally sourced match-funding to transform local travel in 79 communities throughout the UK - changing the lives of six million people who live within a mile of a scheme. Over the next five years, nearly £30 million a year will be invested in creating these local walking and cycling networks from Devon to Perthshire.
Source: Sustrans
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Cambridge to Wicken Fen walking and cycling network - now a step closer
