New Forest cycling grant reduced by £1.5m

 

The DfT has reduced by £1.5m a grant to support cycling made to the New Forest National Parks Authority (NPA).

The New Forest NPA originally won a grant of more than £3.6m for an ambitious project to encourage cycling as part of the DfT’s Cycling in National Parks Grant, which provided £17m of funding for cycling improvements in four National Parks.

But recently, the NPA informed the DfT it did not plan to deliver a “key part” of its New Forest proposals – a £2m family cycle hire scheme.

The DfT says that following “detailed discussions” with the New Forest project team, the scheme will now receive a little more than £2m of funding for the elements of the plan that are being delivered, which include upgrades for existing off-road cycle tracks and improvements to provide better links to the New Forest Park.

The DfT will look at options to reallocate the remaining £1.5m funding to other cycling projects.

Robert Goodwill, transport minister said: “We hope that the decision announced today will reinvigorate the New Forest programme and help the project encourage cycling.

We must do all we can to make sure our investment in cycling infrastructure supports schemes that matter to people and make a difference. That is why we have taken the decision to reallocate this money to other schemes.”