On 26 September 2023 Mole Valley District Council Liberal Democrat Cabinet agreed to contribute £ 160.000 towards the costs of developing more detailed plans for new cycling and walking corridors in the District. Two routes are being considered, one between Leatherhead and Great Bookham, and the other a northern route between Leatherhead and Epsom. These are part of the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Project (LCWIP) run by Surrey County Council. The Leatherhead to Epsom route being planned includes the whole length of both Barnett Wood Lane and Craddocks Avenue, where it would rejoin the A24. The indicative cost of the Leatherhead to Epsom project is a staggering £ 13,710,000 which it is anticipated will come from a bid to a £ 1 billion government scheme but supplemented by other funding from both Surrey County Council and the District Council’s strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). This new Ashtead Route had previously been opposed by the Ashtead Independent Councillors based on experience of the minimal usage of the southern Leatherhead to Epsom route along Leatherhead Road (A24), and especially as, remarkably, this is proceeding to this next stage without any public consultation with either those living on the affected roads or hard evidence of possible usage (other than some modelling).
The route through Ashtead would involve a mixture of shared pavements, one-way and two-way tracks, carriageway widening, verge narrowing, junction modification, and new crossings (two with Toucan lights). There are also suggestions to widen the routes across the Woodfield to the Railway Station and through the Ashtead Recreation Ground to allow mixed usage.
For further details see https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/sites/default/files/home/building-planning/local-plans/230704-lcwip-5-cycle-4-walk.pdf
We will place details of how to make your views through the coming consultation on this website.
By Councillor David Hawksworth
Appalling waste of funding. This should be strongly opposed by our councillors.