Clock ticking on Wye Valley cycle path plan

Time is running out for people in the Wye Valley area - and further afield - to show their support for a proposed new cycle path between the towns of Sedbury and Tintern reports the This is Gloucestershire website.

That’s the view of campaigners who say they need as many people as possible to contact Monmouthsire County Council urging them to approve the £750,000 scheme which would turn the former Wye Valley railway into a cycling and walking route.

The scheme’s supporters say a perceived lack of parking may deter the Council from approving the plan, while there has also been some opposition from local residents despite backing from people in the surroungding area.

The Wye Valley Communities for Safe Cycling organisation is co-ordinating the campaign for the cyclepath and a spokesperson for them said: "The ultimate irony is that Monmouthshire County Council is considering recommending refusal on grounds of lack of parking in the Tintern area when the council has recently completed redevelopment of the Lower Wireworks parking area close to the proposed path.

"The new parking area can easily accommodate the anticipated parking demand in the Tintern area and lies only 200m from the proposed path on an established cycle route."

Cyclist Amanda Charles, 42, from Drybrook, told the website: "I'm all for it and I think it's vital people show their support."

You can do so by emailing planning [at] monmouthshire.gov.uk quoting reference DC/2010/00783.