Council struggling to fund maintenance of Active Travel routes

Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

A council is struggling to fund the maintenance of Active Travel routes used by cyclists and others, although doing so is its responsibility.

Swansea Councillors were briefed on the situation at a committee meeting, and heard that third-party claims had been paid out due to defects on the county’s 91-mile network of paths.

Every year local authorities bid for Welsh Government money to build Active Travel schemes – designed to keep people active and reduce car journeys – and Swansea has been successful in this regard.

Maintenance

The guidance accompanying the Active Travel Act says maintenance should be considered as part of a route’s design, and that doing so was “particularly important” as upkeep costs had to come from councils’ existing budgets. This aspect of Active Travel appeared to surprise some councillors on the council’s economy and infrastructure service transformation committee when they met on October 24.

The report before the committee said “reactive” Active Travel maintenance was carried out by highways staff and parks staff in Swansea despite limited resources. The cost of repairing damage on just one route, it said, could swallow up the entire highways element of the maintenance budget although no figures were given. The parks element of the Active Travel maintenance budget was estimated to be £100,000 per year and rising.

Tree roots and repeated surface water flooding can damage cycle paths, and brambles, overhanging branches and fallen trees can encroach.

Mapping

The report said only adopted rather than unadopted routes were maintained and routinely inspected.

Mapping of routes was also cited as an issue, although this is being rectified. Unadopted routes are also to be adopted.

The report concluded: “It may be beneficial to estimate the additional funding required to maintain any new infrastructure at the time of securing funding for the scheme, and to be mindful of maintenance costs when designing and planning new routes to minimise those costs.”

Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, cabinet member for investment, regeneration, events and tourism, said maintenance was important but that years of UK Government budget cuts had impacted the council’s finances. “I think we need to have a policy that when we apply for Active Travel routes we make sure there is a maintenance budget built into it,” he said.

Cllr Francis-Davies said 40% of visitors to Gower came for the cycling. “Everyone wants to see more Active Travel routes,” he said.

‘Astounding’

Cllr Andrew Stevens, whose cabinet brief includes transport, said other councils were grappling with Active Travel maintenance costs. Cllr Paul Lloyd said he was “astounded” that Welsh Government funding didn’t include these costs, while Cllr Will Thomas suggested businesses like the Secret Beach Bar and Kitchen on the prom whose trade was boosted by cyclists and walkers could perhaps contribute.

Report author and Active Travel officer Stephen Williams said the council would bid for another round of Active Travel funding in December. He also said that serious accidents on Mayals Road – the site of a controversial cycle path scheme three years ago – had fallen.

Last month the council suspended an Active Travel project planned from Sketty, through Uplands and along Walter Road, despite having been awarded £2.55 million for it. The reasons for doing so, it said, were policy and priority changes by new administrations in Westminster and Cardiff on economic growth and public transport, along with feedback from local business and residents. It does not mean the scheme is scrapped.

Cyclist Steve Colinese, of Gorseinon, said the council had done a good job in rectifying tree root damage on sections of the Active Travel route between Gowerton and Pontarddulais. “In fairness they have done that,” he said.

Mr Colinese, who is a member of national governing body British Cycling, said he understood that an uneven stretch on the cycle path between Gowerton and Dunvant was on the council’s maintenance schedule. He also called for a cycle link planned from Fairwood Terrace, Gowerton, through woodland to the nearby train station to be completed as soon as possible.

A spokesman for Swansea Bay cycle campaign group Wheelrights said the older the path the worse its condition generally. He described much of Active Travel network in the Enterprise Zone and also the Penclawdd end of the North Gower route as very poor. He added: “On a positive note the council have been clearing the foreshore path fairly regularly.”