Linking Places Funding agreed to connect Lewes to Kingston.

Ouse Valley Cycle Network

During the last year a group of very committed people from a diverse range of local organisations and with representation from local towns and Ouse valley parishes have worked with the support of the South Downs National Park Authority to raise the profile of the real need for a network of safe, shared sustainable village connections for cyclists and walkers in the Ouse valley.

We have formed a constituted group, consulted widely within the community and with local businesses and landowners, had meetings with transport architects and engineers, the Environment Agency, East Sussex County Council and our MP and transport minister...

We spent months working with our new members from Kingston Road developing an application for an ESCC and SDNPA proposal applying for Local sustainable Transport Funding but had recently been disappointed by not being included, our project being a little too long term.

However our decision to invest all of our SDNPA Sustainable Communities start up Funding in a Sustrans feasibility study has luckily played a key role in the recent Sustrans decision to propose our 2 mile cycle path connecting Kingston with Lewes as part of their £8 million tranch of the coalition government's "Linking Places" project... part of a £30 million package of developments to connect communities, reduce carbon emissions, get people active and make cycling safer and more convenient.

We are all celebrating getting the go ahead for this first stage of our new valley network and feel really invigorated to carry on working towards our aim of creating safe, shared, sustainable village connections from channel port to county town as an international gateway to the South Downs National Park.

OVCN and Environment Agency maps will be displayed as part of the Mapping the Future open morning in Newhaven next Saturday 17th March. A public talk about the OVCN project and comparisons with the Shipwrights Way in West Sussex is being planned for the Linklater in May. Please check the OVCN website for details. We welcome new members. www.ovcn.org.uk