A step closer to Kenilworth's dedicated walking and cycling network

8.21.00pm GMT Tue 4th Nov 2008

Cllr John Whitehouse watches Tim Temple of Sustrans signing the agreement

A scheme to make it easy for the people of Kenilworth to choose walking and cycling for everyday journeys came a step closer today as sustainable transport charity Sustrans and its Connect2 partners at Warwickshire Council signed the paperwork that will guide the development of the scheme for the coming months.

This agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, confirms partners' continued commitment to transform the Kenilworth to Berkswell Greenway along the disused railway line, with additional links to the university campus and town centre. Work on the £700,000 project is now planned to start in December 2008 with the opening pencilled in for autumn 2011.

Over the next five years further work throughout Kenilworth will link the railway route to the city centre, creating a traffic-free link enabling thousands of people to walk or cycle to university, to work or the city centre - to the benefit of both their health and the environment.

This scheme has only 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. The anticipated cost of the Kenilworth scheme is in £700,000, with £300,000 coming from the Big Lottery Fund as part of Sustrans Connect2.

Sustrans' Connect2 Project Manager, Tim Temple said: "We are delighted to be making this significant step towards completing the scheme in Kenilworth. In this era of rising fuel prices and concerns about the health of individuals and our environment, enabling more journeys to be made by foot and bike can only benefit our community."

Cllr John Whitehouse (Liberal Democrat, Kenilworth Abbey), Chair of the Kenilworth Connect2 Steering Group and Warwickshire County Councillor cycling champion added, "It is pleasing to see the plans for the scheme take shape and the memorandum signed. Creating route will involve providing a high quality surface between the University and the Kenilworth, including a new bridge over the A429, Coventry Road. Preparatory works are due to start early in the new year."

Sustrans' Connect2 is funded by a £50 million Big Lottery Fund (BIG) grant after the UK public voted the scheme the winner of The People's Millions Lottery contest last December. The money 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.