Chieveley Parish Plan produces plenty of new ideas

Results from the Chieveley Parish Plan were presented at the recent Local Access Forum meeting on ‘Rolling out our ROWIPs’ (Rights of Way Improvement Plans) at the Thatcham Discovery Centre on June 2^nd. Results from the Chieveley Plan showed strong support to improve rights of way for non-motorised sustainable travel & informal recreation and hence strong support for the ROWIP.

Chieveley parish includes  Chieveley village, Curridge,  Oare and parts of Snelsmore and is well served for rights of way. But the M4, A34 and junction 13 split the parish bringing  traffic into the area which makes it unpleasant or dangerous to use local roads on foot, horseback  or by cycle.

82% of respondents valued access to footpaths, bridleways and byways. They used them for walking for pleasure, dog walking, jogging, horse riding, cycling and motorbiking / off road driving. Interestingly, 55% used them for utility purposes to get to work, school, shops, pub or club on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Lack of maintenance was a concern for some. 58% of respondents requested an improved network of routes to link existing routes more safely. Over 14 ideas were put forward  including an east-west route north of the M4 to connect the villages of Oare, Hermitage, Curridge, Oare and Chieveley; a north-south route to connect Chieveley village to Newbury; and connections to Snelsmore & Hampstead Norreys. These results are in line with comments in other parish plans which show the support at parish level for new rights of way to encourage sustainable travel & informal recreation for all and from where people live, thus reducing car journeys.

The next step is to work with the Local Access Forum, local landowners & developers to achieve these aspirations. Further information from janice.bridger@btopenworld.com, Chieveley Parish Plan steering group member.