Monmouth gets connected with its own walking and cycling network

Communities on both sides of the Wye and Monnow rivers are a step closer towards getting new walking and cycling routes now that Monmouthshire County Council and Sustrans have signed a document to release £250,000 towards the project.

Sustainable transport charity Sustrans and its Connect2 partners at Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) have signed the paperwork that will guide the development for the coming years.

The agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, confirms a continued commitment to the project which will create a network of paths across the rivers. This will provide an enjoyable and accessible route for people pushing prams, wheelchair users, walkers and cyclists.

Jenny Lewis, MCC's Area Manager for the Central Monmouth area said:

"When a local community group decided to work through their local area forum to increase opportunities to walk and cycle in and around Monmouth, the restoration of a lovely old railway bridge across the Wye might have seemed just a bridge too far.

"But nearly three years later, and with a quarter of a million pounds of funding from the Big Lottery through the People's Millions TV programme under their belt, the restoration of that bridge as part of a wider network of walking and cycling routes in and out of town is nearly a reality.

"This is not just due to that original community group who have continued to use their energies to promote this idea, but to their working partners who are helping to make that dream a reality.

"Monmouthshire County Council will now project manage the heart of the core route which includes the railway bridge, working with a board which represents all the major stakeholders in the project."

Councillor Phil Murphy, who represented Monmouthshire County Council at the signing of the Memorandum, said:

"I'm delighted to stand on the bridge that was in many ways of symbol of the determination of the Council to work with local community groups and local citizens to help them use their own energies to improve their own environment."

Sustrans, the national organisation promoting cycle routes across the UK, is the other major partner in this project.  Sustrans put the community group into the bid that won the People's Millions, and it is Sustrans that continually ensured that the group received the technical experience that it needed.

Annette Baker, the chairman of the board and the originator of this project was moved when she joined partners on the bridge to formally launch the project:

"This beautiful bridge will be a real link between communities on both sides of the Wye, and will make an important contribution to more people leaving their cars at home."