East Suffolk Council

East Suffolk Cycling and Walking Strategy

Consultation responses
We received over 700 responses to our initial consultation (19 October – 7 December 2020) which can be viewed on the online map of matters/opportunities raised.>

What is the East Suffolk Cycling and Walking Strategy?

Cycling and walking are recognised as important in supporting better physical and mental health, and reducing our impact on the environment, as well as congestion on our roads. East Suffolk Council is at the early stage of producing a Cycling and Walking Strategy, which will supersede the Waveney Cycle Strategy (2016). The purpose of the Strategy is to help make cycling and walking in East Suffolk, whether for work, school or leisure, safer, more convenient and more desirable for all ages and abilities. We therefore want to create a better-connected network of high quality cycling and walking routes throughout East Suffolk and take advantage of the opportunities that new development can bring in achieving this objective.

The East Suffolk Cycling and Walking Strategy will:

• Identify the key corridors within East Suffolk where there may be significant benefits from improving cycling and walking connections between settlements;
• Produce cycling and walking suitability maps for the ‘major centres’, ‘market towns’ and some of the more sustainable ‘large villages’ in East Suffolk (as identified in the Suffolk Coastal Local Plan and Waveney Local Plan);
• Identify cycling and walking infrastructure improvement opportunities throughout East Suffolk and propose potential solutions to achieve these improvements (for example, from marking up new cycle lanes, to new cycling and walking routes segregated from vehicle traffic); and
• Produce an implementation map to monitor the delivery of cycling and walking opportunities identified in the Strategy, which will be regularly updated when identified cycling and walking solutions are implemented.
• Support the new East Suffolk Council environmental, health and well-being objectives.
• Work closely with Suffolk County Council throughout the project. Find out more on Suffolk County Council cycling projects.

There is much work to do and timescales may change, but we currently envision that the Cycling and Walking Strategy will be adopted in 2021.

What has led to the preparation of the Cycling and Walking Strategy?

This Strategy will build on the excellent work of the Waveney Cycle Strategy, which was produced by Waveney District Council in 2016 and identifies many potential cycling improvements. While the Waveney Cycle Strategy focusses on cycling, the East Suffolk Cycling and Walking Strategy will, as the name suggests, have an expanded focus on cycling and walking. On 1 April 2019 Suffolk Coastal District Council and Waveney District Council merged to become East Suffolk Council. The East Suffolk Cycling and Walking Strategy will cover the whole of East Suffolk. We are working closely with internal and external colleagues and organisations where appropriate and particularly Suffolk County Council, to identify and implement the improvements to cycling and walking infrastructure in East Suffolk.

Initial consultation: October to December 2020

The first consultation commenced on 19 October and closed on 7 December 2020. The consultation asked for cycling and walking matters/opportunities in East Suffolk which should be addressed to encourage more people to cycle and walk. All responses are shown on the online map of matters/opportunities raised. We are currently analysing every response submitted to us. While we would very much like to deliver every suggested opportunity, this however may not be possible.

How can you get involved?

As we progress the Strategy there will be further public engagement. Details will be displayed on this webpage and via our social media accounts.