Somerset spends only £1 on cycling for every £13 it spends on roads, campaigners claim

Only £1 is spent on cycling provision in Somerset for every £13 spent on the county's roads, campaigners have claimed.

More than 60 local councils and community groups in Somerset have called for the county council to stop prioritising cars in its transport schemes.

The groups have presented a manifesto to the council, calling for more funding to be invested in schemes which promote walking and cycling.

Somerset County Council has called the figures "slightly misleading" and promised to spend an additional £1.5 million on cycle-friendly schemes in the near-future.

According to information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the council allocated £1 of capital funding towards walking and cycling infrastructure for every £13 allocated towards infrastructure projects for motor vehicles between 2017 and 2019.

In 2018/19 alone, it spent £47 million of capital funding on new roads compared to just £116,000 on cycling infrastructure – though campaigners have admitted this is "an extreme example".

The new manifesto was drafted by Bruton Safer Walking and Cycling, the Taunton Area Cycling Campaign (TACC) and the Bridgwater Area Cycling Campaign.

Co-author James Hood said: "Across Somerset, the inboxes of town and parish councillors remain full of complaints about speeding traffic and inconsiderate driving and parking.

"As one parish councillor from Cranmore put it: 'The major blights on our rural existence are speeding traffic, dangerous roads and inadequate alternatives to the car'.

"We are living with the consequences of decades of car-centric planning of our towns, villages and highways. We can and must do better.

"We need to design and build a Somerset in which walking and cycling are safe and attractive choices.

"Having declared a climate emergency, and given the new government guidance and funding, we look forward to our county council taking a strong and active lead."

TACC member Mike Ginger said: "We hope that the county council will now start to design our streets so that they are safe and attractive to use for people walking and cycling of all ages and abilities.

"This would mean the end to big road junctions with no convenient crossings, excessive guard railing and barriers, and negative signing like 'end of cycleway'."

Since the manifesto was produced, the government has published its new plan for promoting walking and cycling in light of the coronavirus, known as Gear Change, which will include a new body to assess how well local authorities encourage more sustainable forms of transport.

Somerset County Council said that it welcomed the manifesto and would gladly meet with its authors to discuss specific proposals for improvements.

A spokesman said: "We are pleased the report acknowledges the great work recently achieved at pace through the emergency active travel response.

"We have a number of schemes and programmes which invest in walking and cycling infrastructure, and we will shortly be taking a decision to allocate £1.5 million to specific pedestrian and cycling maintenance schemes that will deliver surfacing, widening and strengthening cycleways, foot-ways and footpaths at agreed locations.

"The Freedom of Information figures are slightly misleading without context, as the vast majority of our capital budget is for essential highway maintenance which includes everything from resurfacing to pothole repairs across our 4,000-mile road network. This work benefits all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.

"We have lobbied central government for a dedicated walking and cycling fund, which they have now confirmed will be put in place, so we would expect investment in these areas to further increase in future."