#activetravel — Public Fediverse posts

🚲 edi.bike | issue 161 | 7th Sep '26

Bike Station fundraising after flash flooding; Spokes push back on unambitious Princes St plans; Byelections deliver two more cycling councillors; Transport Committee agenda review; plus events, infrastructure, route closures & more:

https://buttondown.com/edi.bike/archive/issue-161-7th-sep-26/

#bikeTooter #biking #cycling #cyclingUK #localNews #edinburgh #ActiveTravel #urbanism #scotland #newsletter

If we build #ActiveTravel infrastructure at all, it’s piecemeal or eg goes through a poorly lit park then we wonder why cycling for transport is dominated by the least risk averse, ie. young men.

And all because a few people get angry on FB #MyRideOurRight @[email protected] @[email protected]

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5g45idhfyyj7cyttvic2dllw/post/3murg37r2w223

If we build #ActiveTravel infrastructure at all, it’s piecemeal or eg goes through a poorly lit park then we wonder why cycling for transport is dominated by the least risk averse, ie. young men.

And all because a few people get angry on FB #MyRideOurRight @[email protected] @[email protected]

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5g45idhfyyj7cyttvic2dllw/post/3murg37r2w223

If we build #ActiveTravel infrastructure at all, it’s piecemeal or eg goes through a poorly lit park then we wonder why cycling for transport is dominated by the least risk averse, ie. young men.

And all because a few people get angry on FB #MyRideOurRight @[email protected] @[email protected]

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5g45idhfyyj7cyttvic2dllw/post/3murg37r2w223

Ryder Cup 2027: Ireland’s Healthier Side of Golf

The countdown to Ryder Cup 2027 in Ireland has reached the one-year mark, with Adare Manor preparing for…
#Golf #RyderCup ##RyderCup #ActiveTravel #AdareManor #GolfFitness #GolfWellbeing #IrishGolf #Lahinch
https://www.europesays.com/golf/61470/

NEATH PORT TALBOT: Safer routes to schools, stations and parks — the walking and cycling plans for your area

Getting the kids to school on foot. Cycling to the station instead of driving. Reaching the local park without walking along a busy road.

These are the kinds of everyday journeys behind a set of new walking, wheeling and cycling routes proposed across Neath Port Talbot, which the council says would make active travel easier and safer.

The council has drawn up a long list of routes it wants to add or improve, each one intended, it says, to fix a spot where getting around without a car is currently hard, unsafe or impossible.

There is a catch worth stating up front: these are “future routes” — lines on a map marking where the council wants to act, not funded, designed schemes with a start date. But routes have to be on the map to qualify for Welsh Government money, which is why the council wants views now.

Here’s a flavour of what’s proposed, area by area.

Neath, Skewen and the surrounding villages

In Skewen, the railway currently cuts the village off from Neath Abbey. The council is proposing a route along the lane between Pale Road and the railway bridge, with a link along Cardonnel Road, which it says would reconnect the two — plus a separate path through Skewen Park to create a traffic-free way across the village.

At Cadoxton, a new path along Bryn Catwg would, according to the plans, give families a step-free route to Cadoxton Community Park.

Aberdulais and Cilfrew are split by the railway and the River Dulais. The council says a proposed route over the bridge, joining New Road to Cefn-yr-Allt, would connect the two communities.

For commuters, the council has placed some of its highest-priority schemes around Neath train station, with another new link aimed at getting people safely to Briton Ferry station.

Port Talbot, Aberavon and Taibach

In Taibach, the council says a route along Lady Charlotte Lane would make it easier to reach the community centre, the education centre and Mount Surgery.

A second Taibach route, along the path between Wood Street and Elba Avenue, is intended to improve the traffic-free options through Margam’s residential streets.

In east Port Talbot, the plans propose a route along Pen-y-Cae Road to improve access around the Tan-y-Groes Street roundabout.

Much of Port Talbot’s town centre, seafront and Sandfields network already ranks among the highest-priority routes in the borough, alongside a proposed walking and cycling link to Neath Port Talbot Hospital.

Cwmavon, Glynneath and the Neath valleys

At Cwmavon, the council is proposing an off-road path along the western bank of the River Afan, which it says would give people on the Gwaun Afan estate a direct, traffic-free route in and out, tying into National Cycle Network Route 887.

In Glynneath, the plans include a route from the B4242 to the library, intended to put key community buildings within safe reach on foot or by bike.

At Resolven, the council is proposing a quieter alternative to the B4434 along Heol Herbert.

In Seven Sisters, officers say a route along Heol Heddwch and Tan-y-Rhiw would give children a safer way to reach Blaendulais Primary School and connect homes to the village’s sports and play facilities.

Also at Resolven, the council is proposing to extend an existing route along the B4434 to Melincourt, to serve possible new housing sites.

In Croeserw, the plans propose a walking route linking Viaduct Road to the village via Eastern Avenue, South Avenue and Bryn Siriol.

Pontardawe and the Swansea Valley

Along the Swansea Canal near Pontardawe, the council is proposing a towpath route it says would create a continuous, car-free path through the Swansea Valley.

Elsewhere in Pontardawe, the plans note that the A474 currently allows no pedestrian access, and propose a new link up to Glan-Rhyd Road to address it.

Higher up, a future route from Tairgwaith to Cwmllynfell, via the reservoir, is intended to open access to a new visitor destination in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen.

How the routes are chosen — and how to have your say

Each route has been scored and ranked by Transport for Wales, which weighed how many people would use it and how well it connects schools, workplaces and local centres. That ranking helps decide which come forward first.

But the council is clear that ranking doesn’t guarantee delivery: every scheme still depends on funding, design and further consultation.

Cllr Wyndham Griffiths, the council’s cabinet member for strategic planning, transport and connectivity, said the aim was to help people make everyday journeys — to school, work or the shops — in a healthy, safe and sustainable way.

He said the consultation gave people and businesses a chance to say where changes were most needed, which would then shape the council’s funding bids.

The council says it especially wants to hear where walking, wheeling or cycling currently feels unsafe or difficult, and where links between communities are missing.

The 12-week consultation runs until 21 September. People can complete an online survey on DataMapWales, or view paper copies at Neath and Port Talbot libraries. Drop-in events will run over the summer, with dates listed at npt.gov.uk/activetravel.

This consultation follows earlier council proposals for active travel schemes across the borough, including a major revamp for Sandfields and Aberavon, a masterplan for Neath town centre and a proposed Neath to Cimla route.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Major revamp planned for Sandfields and Aberavon as council unveils huge active travel upgrade
A £multi-million, 4.7km scheme to link Aberavon seafront with Afan Way.

Council looks for views on new Neath cycling and walking plans
Three routes proposed for improvement in and around Neath town centre.

Council seeks views on proposed Neath to Cimla walking, cycling and wheeling route
An earlier consultation on a key active travel link in the Cimla area.

18-Jun-2026
The suburban street design that’s been driving emissions since WWII

all those stupid mazes of cul de sacs - there should at least be a signposted cycle and footpath as a shortcut, which would help to encourage #activeTravel

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1132774

#science #cities #planning #suburbs #climateCatastrophe #urbanSprawl

BRITON FERRY: Two years on, the Wales Coastal Path closure on the estuary has become a political football — as 20 Labour councillors demand action over sinkholes that nobody will pay to fix

Twenty opposition Welsh Labour councillors from Neath Port Talbot have written to the new Welsh Government Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability demanding urgent action and funding to reopen long-closed sections of the Wales Coastal Path through Baglan, Briton Ferry and Sandfields West — a stretch that has now been fenced off for more than two years over fears of subsidence and sinkhole collapse.

The letter, sent this week to Plaid Cymru MS Llŷr Gruffydd — who took on the newly created rural resilience portfolio when Plaid Cymru formed Wales’s first ever Plaid-led government earlier this month — lands at the heart of a long-running political dispute over who should pay to fix a deteriorating path on land owned by the Welsh Government and maintained, until 2023, by the council.

Campaign led by three local councillors

The campaign for the path’s reinstatement has been led by Cllr Josh Tuck (Baglan), Cllr Gareth Rice (Briton Ferry) and Cllr Rob Wood, whose wards either border or contain the closed section. This week’s letter to the Cabinet Minister has been signed by 17 of their Welsh Labour colleagues from across the borough.

Cllr Rice’s ward of Briton Ferry contains the stretch of path that runs alongside the Briton Ferry estuary — where the original closure was made in April 2023 after the path was deemed too dangerous to use.

Closed since April 2023

According to the council’s own official response to a 2024 enquiry from Aberavon and Maesteg MP Stephen Kinnock, the section was closed in April 2023 because of “subsidence connected to the formation of sinkholes, which unfortunately made the path hazardous to use.”

The same letter, written by NPT’s Head of Planning and Public Protection Ceri Morris, set out a longer history of problems. Repair schemes had been carried out approximately every four years since 2012 to fill or bridge the sinkholes that were continually forming in the area — but those works “did not address the wider problem that is affecting the adjacent land.”

By early 2023, the council said, officers had noticed new cracks opening up along the path. “The Authority considered it had no option other than to close the path on safety grounds,” the letter said.

Walkers were redirected along the cycle route from The Quays Offices, passing through the industrial estate to pick up the Wales Coast Path connection at Purcell Avenue.

Walkers using eroded unofficial route around closure

More than two years on, councillors say walkers are increasingly bypassing the official closure altogether and using an unofficial route through eroded ground alongside the fencing — raising fresh concerns that the closure may be creating new safety risks rather than removing them.

The letter from the 20 councillors describes the closures as “a visible symbol of neglect along a key part of our coastline” and says that despite repeated questions to Neath Port Talbot Council from elected members, no clear timetable has ever been provided for restoration.

March 2024: borehole testing

The council’s 2024 response confirmed that NPT had used Wales Coast Path funding in March 2024 to carry out “an extensive bore hole testing scheme to ascertain the extent of the issues in this area.” Officers were said to be reviewing the final report to ascertain whether the route remains feasible for future use as the Wales Coast Path.

But the council was clear that reopening depends on funding from above. “Whilst it was not the Authority’s intention to permanently close this section of the path, ultimately it comes down to whether funding becomes available from Welsh Government,” Mr Morris wrote.

The official council position has been that NPT itself cannot continue to fund repeated repair schemes indefinitely — and that even if it did, the underlying subsidence affecting the adjacent land would mean the path could only be reopened on a temporary basis without a wider intervention.

A funding dispute the council says rests with Welsh Government

The closure has happened entirely under the current Plaid Cymru-led rainbow coalition, which took control of Neath Port Talbot Council in 2022 — meaning the path has been fenced off for almost the whole of this administration’s time in office.

Council leader Cllr Steve Hunt has previously stated publicly that the path “has nothing at all to do with NPTCBC” because the underlying land is in the ownership of the Welsh Government — placing responsibility for any repair work with whoever forms that government.

David Rees, who served as Welsh Labour MS for Aberavon until losing his seat at the May 2026 Senedd election, said in 2024 that he had been told by NPT that the council needed money from Welsh Government to fix the path, while Welsh Government had stated that the council had already received maintenance funding. “It is unlikely to re-open until this is resolved as the argument of people’s safety will be dominant,” he said at the time. Two years on, his prediction has held: the path remains closed.

“A flagship national asset”

The Wales Coastal Path is an 870-mile route around the entire Welsh coastline, launched in 2012 as the first dedicated long-distance walking route to cover an entire country. It is jointly funded by the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales, with day-to-day maintenance delivered by local authorities. The Welsh Government also owns the adjacent land affected by the subsidence — making it both funder and landowner in the dispute.

The letter from the 20 councillors describes the path as “internationally recognised” and intended to be “a source of pride for Wales” — but says that large sections through Baglan, Briton Ferry and Sandfields West remain “inaccessible, fenced off and deteriorating.”

A cross-party political map

The letter has been copied to all six Members of the Senedd for the new Afan Ogwr Rhondda constituency, which covers the affected communities under the new D’Hondt voting system introduced for the May 2026 election.

Those six MSs are Sera Evans, Alun Cox and Elyn Stephens, all of Plaid Cymru; Benjamin Hodge McKenna and Steve Bayliss, both of Reform UK; and former Welsh Labour cabinet member Huw Irranca-Davies, who was elected Llywydd of the Senedd earlier this month and is now politically impartial.

Cabinet Minister Llŷr Gruffydd, MS for Clwyd, only took on the rural resilience brief on 13 May after First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth appointed his first cabinet. The portfolio includes responsibility for Wales’s outdoor and natural environment infrastructure.

‘We loved watching the birds and wildlife’

Baglan residents Gaynor and Graham, both members of the RSPB, said the loss of the path had stripped local people of a free, accessible community asset.

“The coastal path at Briton Ferry has always been a lovely, easy, flat walk for people of all ages,” they said. “Walkers from Neath and Port Talbot used it, not just residents of Baglan and Briton Ferry. It’s a local asset that’s free to use, and obviously helps people’s fitness, mental health and well-being. Apart from meeting people socially along the way, it really needs to be reinstated.

“For us personally, we loved watching the birds and wildlife as we are both members of the RSPB. In these challenging times it would be great to have somewhere that’s free to enjoy.”

Three areas of damage

The councillors set out three distinct impacts of the closures.

On health and wellbeing, the letter says the closures have cut off vital routes for walking, cycling and daily exercise relied upon by residents for years.

On active travel, the closures have severed key walking and cycling connections between Baglan, Briton Ferry, Sandfields and the wider Swansea Bay coastline.

And on local business and tourism, the councillors say visitors have been diverted away from the area’s seaside businesses, undermining wider Welsh Government ambitions around tourism and outdoor recreation.

“Unacceptable and unworthy”

Calling for a “clear programme for restoration and reopening,” the councillors describe the current position as “unacceptable for local communities and unworthy of a flagship national route such as the Wales Coastal Path.”

“Its continued closure damages confidence in public infrastructure and undermines wider Welsh Government ambitions around tourism, wellbeing and active travel,” the letter states.

The 20 signatories

Alongside Cllr Josh Tuck, Cllr Gareth Rice and Cllr Rob Wood, the letter is signed by Cllr Carol Clement-Williams (Baglan), Cllr Suzanne Paddison (Sandfields West), Cllr Sarah Thomas, Cllr Laura Williams, Cllr Mike Harvey, Cllr Lauren Heard (Neath East), Cllr Stephanie Grimshaw (Aberavon and Baglan Moors), Cllr Saifur Rahaman and Cllr Alan Lockyer (Neath North), together with the Welsh Labour ward councillors for Margam and Taibach and for Port Talbot.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

SENEDD ELECTION 2026: Plaid Cymru largest party, Reform UK historic breakthrough, Welsh Labour reduced to nine seats
The full result of the May 2026 Senedd election and the political map that produced this government.

More news from Baglan
Our latest coverage from across Baglan and the wider Neath Port Talbot area.

Active travel coverage from Swansea Bay News
Our ongoing coverage of walking, cycling and active travel infrastructure across south-west Wales.

Walk Ride Greater Manchester have 2 vacancies:
- Walking and Cycling Bus Coordinator
- Project Administrator for Walking and Cycling Bus Programme
Walk Ride GM has launched an ambitious new pilot project to establish the UK’s first coordinated network of walking and cycling buses for school travel.
https://www.walkridegm.org.uk/2026/03/05/wrgm-launches-pioneering-walking-and-cycling-bus-pilot/
#Manchester #GetFediHired #NonProfit #ActiveTravel #GreenJobs

RE: https://mstdn.social/@jonpsp/115588439781739887

It's good stuff - the Government gets it, now why can't they get Councils (highways and planning departments) and developers to actually deliver these important road safety fixes?

#cycling #walking #ActiveTravel #RoadDanger #cars #LTN120

'Critical safety issues for walking, wheeling and cycling'

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/critical-safety-issues-for-walking-wheeling-and-cycling/critical-safety-issues-for-walking-wheeling-and-cycling

'The recommendation to focus on identifying and removing critical issues was introduced nationally in Local Transport Note 1/20 for cycling and regionally through approaches such as London’s Healthy Streets check and Greater Manchester’s Streets for All check.'

#cycling #walking #ActiveTravel #RoadDanger #cars #LTN120

@NorwichCycling it's effectively not even 2m wide because #LTN120 says to take off sides as a safety margin, so lose 0.5m for the kerb drop and it looks like 0.2m for that lamppost and hedge that are too close to the track, so effective width is 1.3m? 4 lanes for cars, not even half a lane for #activeTravel. Yet again #NCC #fail to implement their own policies and offer no #space4cycling

A bike box goes up in Ballintemple, but Cork City Council says it must come down

It's amazing the things that are considered "visual clutter" by LAs

https://tripeanddrisheen.substack.com/p/a-bike-box-goes-up-in-ballintemple?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

#cork #activeTravel #planning #cycling #bikeStorage

@CloudyMrs I use the bus a lot and the number of young people on the buses now is really striking. Coincidentally, after the Scottish Govt rolled out the free bus pass for young uns. Oddly, there’s been no coverage in the press of its success

#ActiveTravel #BusTravel #Scotland #ScottishGovernment

If you can fix #enniscorty from an #ActiveTravel, #DerelictIreland, #VacantIreland and #AirQuality perspective you'll have the tools to fix anywhere in #Ireland
#PublicTransportIE