Further to the Welsh Government having made it a legal requirement for local authorities in Wales to map and plan for suitable routes for active travel, and to build and improve their infrastructure for walking and cycling every year, Janet Finch-Saunders AM is calling for thorough scrutiny of Council and Welsh Government spending as a quarter of a million has just been spent on a 0.28 mile pavement in Llanrwst.
The Assembly Member for Aberconwy said:
“I fully support the aim of the Active Travel (Wales) Act which is to encourage people to walk or cycle rather than using a car, however the developments of routes must be good value for money.
“In Llanrwst we have just seen a 450 meter shared cycle and pedestrian path built at a huge cost of £238,000 to the tax payer.
“This quarter of a million is not sensible spending. It is monetary madness as there is a path for pedestrians on the other side of the road.
“As a fervent supporter of our cycle path network, it would have made far more sense to complete the cycle path from Llanrwst to Betws-y-Coed which currently ends in the middle of the countryside.
“At a time in which we have seen council tax increase by 4.6%, council services reduced, and the Welsh Government is hesitating to invest in pedestrian safety measures in Conwy, I call again for thorough scrutiny of Conwy Council and Welsh Government expenditure so that there is an introduction of a process of careful and responsible spending”.
ENDS
Notes
Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013
Local authorities have to bid for small pots of Welsh Government money in competition with other transport projects.