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'morning all,
If you ride in the Surrey Hills, then you may well have ridden from Dorking to Westcott along the A25. It's not a nice ride - lots of fast traffic, a couple of nasty bends where cars go wide, all kinds of fun like that. You might also have used a bridleway / footpath over the back, which is a lot less hassle but which is, well, footpath. The local ROW officers and local residents have been working for years to get a safe cycle route / walking path put in that takes bikes, buggies and children off the A25 route.
This would mean that there's a reasonable path, free of motorised traffic, between the main local rail station in Dorking and the trails. It also means that residents of Westcott can walk and ride into Dorking in safety. It's a pretty big deal, both for residents and mountain bikers.
If you live, work or study in Surrey, then please take a look at the petition below and consider adding your name.
Unfortunately it's not open to everyone, which is a shame. But if you feel strongly about this and live elsewhere, I'm trying to find the right address for you to write to at the moment - I'll update as and when I find it.
[url= http://petitions.surreycc.gov.uk/WestcottBikePath/ ]Westcott bike path[/url]
The Petition:
[i]We the undersigned petition Surrey County Council to prioritise the quick completion of the unfinished safe cycle route between Westcott and Dorking in order to provide a direct, easy and practical route for those who need or want to travel without a car and who currently have to brave the hazardous section of the A25 to the east of Westcott, which is particularly dangerous for our vulnerable schoolchildren and nearly impossible for mobility scooters and parents with buggies.[/i]
Good stuff.
Cheers Chunky.
If you're outside Surrey, but come in to the county to ride on the North Dwons / Surrey Hills, and want to let the council know your thoughts, please mail the Chair of the committee considering this, Clare Curran.
Ms Curran put this project back on the agenda, by the way, so messages to her of the potential value for visitors as well as locals will be of great value. Clare's at: clare.curran[AT]surreycc.gov.uk
Is there a map of the proposed route? Even after playing with the Surrey CC interactive map, I'm not quite sure what's being proposed.
Is it intended to link up with the existing track along Miltoncourt Lane?
Will you have to head down Lince Lane and rejoin the A25 to get into the centre of Westcott, or can you get further west without using the A25?
Regardless, good stuff.
offthebrakes - yep, it'll link up with the Milton Court bridleway. I'll see if there's a map somewhere.
Bump...plus I take "Anyone who lives, works or studies in Surrey may create and submit a petition to Surrey County Council" as meaning [u]anyone [/u] can sign it, you only have to live, work, study in Surrey to be the person that created/submits it (ie Eizabeth Dobson in this case)? Deadline for signing is 1st Dec!
you need to add the word 'safe' into your petition a few more times. they'll take more notice of it then.direct, easy and practical rarely carry much weight. council(lor)s like to think theyre saving people.
ey up. there's a Facebook page here: [url=
complete with map and latest updates.
The safety thing is a big deal, as it happens - the path is primarily for schoolchildren. A huge fringe benefit for residents is that (hopefully) more people will park in Dorking and ride out to the trails from there, rather than parking in Westcott. Or, for that matter, use the train (loads already do) and ride from there.