Transport plan will include special features for walkers and cyclists in Banbury

Oxfordshire and Cherwell district councils are setting about a masterplan for improvements that will encourage cycling and walking in and around the town. Planning work starts soon, they say.

Officers at the county and district councils are starting a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for Banbury. The work will be jointly funded and managed by both local authorities.

Councillors hope the move will help residents become healthier and happier as well as contributing to reductions in pollution.

Councillor Yvonne Constance, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “We are committed to encouraging active, healthy and sustainable modes of travel such as cycling, which benefit everybody by helping to reduce air pollution, noise pollution and greenhouse gases.

"Additional advantages for those who cycle as part of their everyday routine include improved physical and mental health, with increased productivity and reduced sickness absence. Encouraging cycling, walking and active travel as a whole is an integral part of the council’s priorities to create healthy places and take meaningful climate action.”

The goal of the LCWIP will be to identify infrastructure improvements needed to enable people to cycle and walk more within the town and from local villages. It also aims to help win funding for better cycling and walking infrastructure.

Bicester and Witney cycling and walking plans are already under way and these projects will help officers in their planning for Banbury.

The work comes after support from local environmental pressure group Banbury Community Action. The development of an LCWIP also forms part of the wider Banbury transport strategy.

Wider community engagement will follow in the late spring and summer.