Cycle path saga takes new twist

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

A long-awaited path for cyclists, walkers and horse riders across a common has been given the go-ahead.

The path in Gower will run parallel to the B4436 on Clyne Common and link Mayals, Swansea, with Murton and Bishopston, Gower. People walking, running, cycling and riding horses on the shared-use path will be separated from the busy road by a stock-proof fence.

The project already has planning permission and has now received Welsh Government approval under the 2006 Commons Act.

Bishopston resident Patrick Tribe helped set set up a campaign group called Gower Access Path and said an online petition in support of the scheme a few years ago had around 2,500 signatures.

He said the route wouldn’t be just for cyclists and that if anything walkers would use it more. “I’m a cyclist, and I think the path justifies itself just for walking,” he said.

Richard Duggan, the Welsh Government-appointed planning inspector who assessed the council’s Commons Act application, said there was no safe route for walkers or cyclists between Mayals and Bishopston and that safety concerns had been raised by schools and cycling and running groups.

Letters of support, objection and a large petition of support were submitted about the 3m-wide path, which will have 1.5m verges either side and run for just over 2km.

Mr Duggan’s decision report said he’d seen for himself “how dangerous” the stretch of road could be for pedestrians.

He said the shared-use path would occupy just under four acres of a 1,858-acre common which 59 commoners had rights to use, mainly for grazing. The public also had rights, it said, to use the common for air and exercise.

Mr Duggan considered whether the project was consistent with the future use of the land as common land and concluded that it was, noting there would be additional public access benefits.

He said the shared-use path would “inevitably cause some visual harm to the open and unspoilt nature of this part of the common” but was satisfied it wouldn’t have such an impact on the wider landscape as to warrant refusal. He added that it would be largely hidden from drivers on the B4436.

Turning to nature conservation, Mr Duggan said proposed wildflower planting and new bird and bat boxes would lead to an overall net gain for biodiversity.

Swansea Council previously had planning consent and funding to build the path but it was turned down by the Welsh Government in 2023 because it was deemed to interfere with the rights of commoners and be harmful for nature conservation and the landscape.

The council went back to the drawing board and amended the design. Planning approval was issued again in April this year and now the commons element has been cleared. But funding will have to be applied for again.

Cllr Andrew Stevens, cabinet member for Environment and Infrastructure, said he was delighted with the outcome. “The next stage for us will be to apply for funding from the Welsh Government to construct the route, and we hope we can start developing it later this year,” he said.

Bishopston councillor Lyndon Jones said it was great news and a scheme he’d campaigned for since being elected in 2017. Writing on Facebook he thanked officers at Swansea Council and said: “This has been a long time coming and a lot of effort has gone into making this happen.”

Swansea Bay cycle campaign group Wheelrights described the commons approval as really positive on a Facebook post. “What makes this especially heartening is the huge level of public support behind the scheme, including many submissions backing the proposals,” it said.