Christine Tongue: Walking on wheels and the Thanet Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan

I’ve been a bit rubbish at walking for a good few years now and depend on a mobility scooter to replace my failing legs. So, I was a bit surprised when I was invited to a consultation about encouraging walking!

I’m a “stakeholder “apparently. So, I got out my stake and went along to Charles Dickens School on July 14th to talk about creating healthy walking and cycling routes in St Peters. Specifically, it covers Broadstairs Road and Westwood Road, where many of our schools are.

It was organised by the council in conjunction with SUSTRANS. Weird title! No one explained….

Like most disabled people, I arrived ridiculously early to check out access and find where the toilets are – if I can’t go the loo, I go home!

The schools were coming out, with loads of teenagers all going towards Broadstairs and me going the other way on a single track cycle lane. There could have been problems, but they were lovely! Getting out of my way, waving me on, cheery smiles and helpful directions. Youth at its best!

Charles Dickens School is super accessible – a role model for public buildings everywhere. I rolled in, rolled to the splendid loo, rolled around outside talking to kids hanging round the gates – “My dad drives me here and I walk home – takes me an hour and it’s a bit boring!” “Broadstairs is a safe place for walking.” “Don’t go down that alleyway with the scooter, it’s a bit bumpy round the corner!” I was very impressed with the thoughtfulness of this!

Finally, the SUSTRANS organiser turned up and me and three town councillors and two others went in to look at some plans and talk to some planners, designers and a few other relevant bods – they outnumbered the stakeholders so I had a chance to make my usual fuss about dropped kerbs, potholes and planners who don’t build access into their priorities.

Listed buildings were mentioned as if that justified all aspects of blocked access. But that’s not relevant to pavements so I could take the discussion no further.

The idea is to encourage walking and cycling to and from our schools. A good friend of mine was run down in the dark and nearly killed on this route by an escooter (NOT a mobility scooter), so I have an extra interest in making it safer and keeping the place well lit and the escooter ban in place. (The rider went to prison, by the way.)

Good lighting on all our streets is vital, so are trees and rounded or dropped kerbs. I think we’ll get more.

I was a bit horrified that the plans stopped before they got to Broadstairs town centre. And I was even more worried that the beautiful improvements on a couple of miles of pavement might result in no money to spend on our narrow, pothole strewn high street, where people tumble regularly on rough surfaces and mobility scooters and pushchairs get trapped by delivery lorries, pavement parking etc etc.

But we heard, as we hear too much, that money was only available for this project and if we hadn’t grabbed it, Dover would have. What’s all that about??

I left the stakeholder meeting very impressed with the school and our local kids and wondering why it had all cost £30,000 so far when we’re still  being told our lift can’t be kept open in the winter because maintenance will be too expensive.

And once again, rumours of tea and biscuits were completely unfounded. Stakeholders need sustenance!

I scooted home on completely empty pavements, jarred my bones on my local potholes (see pics) and wondered why I’d gone.

More consultations to follow. Do join in – they’ll happen anyhow and you might as well have your say.

What the council says:

The council has been working with Sustrans, a charity that aims to make it easier for everyone to walk, wheel and cycle, since 2021. Through this partnership, Sustrans has identified Thanet’s main walking and cycling routes and produced a series of reports. The findings from each of these have been brought together in one draft document, the Thanet Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (Thanet CWIP).

People are now invited to share their feedback on the Thanet CWIP, which sets out a proposed network of safe and easy cycling, wheeling and walking routes and zones, across the district.

A short online survey can be found on Your Voice Thanet, the council’s public engagement platform, and is open until 5pm on Sunday 17 August.

Once adopted, the Thanet CWIP will provide essential support for ongoing funding bids to deliver cycling and walking infrastructure in the district.

The draft Plan is the consolidation of nearly four years’ work to develop a potential network of cycling and walking routes in the district. The project has been largely funded through grants from the Department for Transport’s Active Travel Capability Fund.