Finchampstead News January 2025

A councillor’s inbox can be a useful measure of what local people consider important, at least as much as talking to people on the doorstep, maybe more so as the correspondent has made the effort to initiate the discussion.  By some margin, the most frequent topic in my inbox is local travel and transport, something we almost all experience for better or worse every day.   

Those who drive or cycle are concerned about road conditions.  People in cars and buses are frustrated by congestion.  People who want to cycle more find the roads unsafe, as do those whose only wish is to walk from one side to the other.  And many who would travel by bus are dismayed by the timings, frequency and routes available to them.  The concerns are many and varied. 

There are no ‘silver-bullet’ solutions to these problems.  Funding to maintain the roads is a fraction of what is needed to deal with routine resurfacing and, increasingly, is spent making damaged roads safe.  New money for improvements has dried up, with government grants for walking and cycling having effectively stopped in 2023 and the cost of borrowing to invest prohibitively expensive.  Investment in buses is happening, but much more is needed.

Our area continues to be a popular place to live and, with government continuing to require additional housing in our area, an assumption that our local transport system can remain unchanged, channeling ever increasing cars into the same pinch points, is likely to fail. But what are the alternatives? 

With places to work, learn, shop and play within walking or cycling distance of where people live, much of the future congestion on the roads can be avoided.  These ‘sustainability’ questions are behind many of the choices in the recent Local Plan.  Even so, our local mainline station and town remain difficult to reach, connected only by an hourly bus service and the Barkham and Finchampstead roads which only those with a high risk tolerance would cycle.  We need buses running on the magic ‘15 minute’ frequency which works for most and, if we cannot find space for safe cycle routes on the roads, we need to bite the bullet and build new routes.  I’m clear from my own experience getting around by car, by bike and on foot that these needs are amongst the most important things for me to focus on. 

They are also the challenges which the council is trying to address in its new Local Transport Plan, on which a public consultation took place last year and which is likely to be approved in early 2025.  You can read the latest draft online here:  https://wokingham.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s75262/LTP4%20Appendix%201.pdf  

Please do let me know what you think, on travel or any other issues. 

Councillor Adrian Betteridge,  Barkham and Arborfield Ward.  adrian.betteridge@wokingham.gov.uk.   07985 088298