City MP calls for slice of ₤140m cycling cash

EDP 31/01/08

A Norwich MP has called on Norfolk councillors to bid for a slice of the ₤140m of funding the government is to invest in cycling across the country. Ministers have pledged to promote cycling among children and adults - and cycling enthusiasts in the city, including Norwich South MP Charles Clarke, want to make sure Norwich gets its share. Mr Clarke, former home secretary and a member of the cycling committee at Parliament, said: "It's fantastic that the government is investing this money into cycling and it's critically important that Norfolk and Norwich identify the best ways of using that money in the city from the point of view of making cycling easier and safer". The government's funding will go towards initiatives across the country to promote a greater take-up of the low-carbon transport option. Investment will be delivered over three years and will be used to enable an extra half a million English schoolchildren to take part in the Bikeability cycle training by 2012 and to create Cycle Demonstration Towns to target the pro-cycling message at millions more people. Norwich Cycling Campaign, which wants a quarter of all journeys in the city to be made by bike, also hopes money will be invested in Norwich. Matthew Williams, consultations officer for the campaign, said: "There are all sorts of things that are worth spending on and cycle training is certainly one of them. The most effective use of available funds happens when it's not spent in isolation of the wider travel picture."