*** UPDATED - EASY RESPONSE, DEADLINE SUNDAY !!! ***
The deadline is midnight Sunday 26-June to respond to Hampshire County Council's consultation on version 4 of it's Local Transport Plan (LTP4 for short), which will determine our transport policies over the next 20 years, especially cycling and active travel, and how we can reduce the 50% of Hampshire's CO2 emissions that come from transport.
If you haven't responded yet and you don't have the time, here's a 3 minute version:
1) click on this link and enter your personal details in section 1.
2) tick 'strongly agree' for all of section 2.
3) tick 'not at all confident' for all of section 3.
4) for each free text box in section 3 write 'as per Green Travel Hampshire response'.
Those are the most important bits, but if you have time, for bonus marks:
5) read our suggested response document, which you can find here, and open alongside the consultation to make it easier.
This was compiled as a joint effort by Green Travel Hampshire and Cycle Hampshire.
If you are really short of time, you can email strategic.transport@hants.gov.uk with subject "LTP4 response", saying you agree with Green Travel Hampshire's response.
If you want more, you can find the Hampshire LTP4 webpage here, with the 'Have your say' link. The 40 page LTP4 Summary document provides a high-level overview of the key content. There is a more detailed 140 page full Draft LTP4 document containing the full text and additional technical details.
We based much of our response on Winchester Action on Climate Change's response, which you can find on their website, at winacc.org.uk/about-us/action-groups/transport/local-transport-plan-4/. They go into much more detail on climate change in general, whereas we have focused more on the cycling and active travel aspects.
What do we think?
The plan is full of very fine words about active travel, but translating them into action requires many drastic changes to detailed Hampshire policies. Those changes need to happen yesterday, and we think the timetable is far too slow.
Cycling could replace many car journeys of 1 to 10 miles, but if the transport authority can’t demonstrate safe routes to cycle to school, to work, to the shops, how are parents supposed to know to show their children?
As the transport authority, Hampshire should be designing and building an integrated cycle network that is safe, direct and attractive to promote active travel. Hampshire Highways prioritise cars - we think they should give equal priority to cycling and walking - but they could do that for a fraction of the cost, because cycle paths are much cheaper to build than roads, and they're long-lasting.
The deadline is Sunday June 26th!
Please respond to support cycling, active travel, and tackling climate change.
If you have any comments, questions or ideas, please contact me, Wilf Forrow.