IN the article 'Valley cycle path – a step too far' in the Review last week the CPRE say that a better solution (than the proposed cycle Wye Valley multi-use route) will be to use quiet lanes. The group Families for Safe Cycling in the Wye Valley wants to see the multi-use track from Chepstow to Monmouth built predominantly off-road precisely because there is no such thing as a quiet and safe lane for family cycling.
I am afraid to take my children onto the 'safe' lanes around Hewelsfield.
Seventy per cent of cyclists killed in the UK are killed on rural roads. The CPRE is, on this occasion, wrong to try to protect the environment by risking the lives of cyclists, and particularly children.
There is concern that the proposed cycle route will be an eyesore – similar routes up and down the country make little negative impact on the visual environment and make a positive contribution to wildlife by creating an 'edge' with greater diversity.
Building the route will connect many communities together by a safe and pollution free method of travel. Children will be able to cycle to school and to the towns of Chepstow and Monmouth thus reducing traffic flow and increasing health.
Many local people are positively in favour of the route because of the social, physical and economic benefits it will bring. – David Rooke, Hewelsfield.