Farnham Cycle Campaign believes the town’s new cycle network is set to be delayed further, meaning that even funding won’t arrive until early 2025, writes Peter Goodman of the Farnham Cycle Campaign.

Campaigners have called for urgent action from local councillors to rescue the town’s long-awaited cycling and walking plans from a further full year’s delay.

Hopes were raised late last year when Surrey County Council responded to intense lobbying and published the draft Farnham local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP) to stakeholders in December.

But the December meeting of the Farnham Infrastructure Programme (FIP) board – which has to approve the plan – ended inconclusively when it became clear there was not enough time to consider the report.

It really makes us wonder how committed the FIP board is to delivering something that will reduce Farnham’s motorised traffic volumes in a reasonable timeframe.

FIP crisis meetings have been scheduled for January 30 to brief Farnham’s local councillors and to resolve the gaps and inconsistencies in the plans, which FCC outlined last year because there are no continuous east-west or north-south cycle routes across the town centre.

But unless they can be finalised within a few weeks, it will not be possible to submit the bids to central government for funding in time for this year’s deadline in the summer.

This is because councils cannot undertake any public engagement because of a nationwide ban on consultation during election periods.

The embarrassing delay means Farnham is now the only part of Waverley without a clear plan for segregated cycle tracks, even though the process was started before other parts of the borough.

And Hampshire towns all around us are currently building segregated cycle tracks to get cyclists off the road – but we have yet to even apply for funding.

Motorised traffic levels were forecast to increase steadily over the next few years even before the current train problems which sent people scrambling to invest in their own car. Cycling is a great way to help with car congestion.

On a different note, there is a play about women in cycling at the Aldershot West End Centre on Wednesday, March 8 called On Track and Farnham Cycle Campaign is organising a group ride from The Nelson Arms pub on Castle Street.

You couldn’t yet have a play with this name in Farnham, of course!