See here: http://road.cc/content/news/36449-new-government-rules-make-it-easier-co...
and here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8544782/Cycling-to-become-easier-under-b...
The Telegraph article doesn’t have a comments section so we can’t see what the average shire tory thinks of the idea. But note the Telegraph’s “related articles” – “Lycra louts face curbs” (June 2002) and “Lycra louts to be fined” (Dec 2009).
Summary – Grant Shapps, local govt minister, wants to make it easier for councils to abolish bylaws which prohibit cycling on eg promenades and in parks. Motivation is to encourage more people to cycle by offering them off-road alternatives. There are of course references to potential for tension between cyclists and pedestrians sharing space – shared use and “shared understanding”.
Note also Brake has said something useful for once. See here: http://www.brake.org.uk/safer-routes-to-get-us-cycling
It may be a statement of the bleedin’ obvious to you, but good to see a respected road safety charity publish some useful research findings on traffic-free cycling as an incentive to greater take-up, rather than the usual blame-the-victim stuff about helmets and high-vis.
