Cycling's Boardman warns Exeter of potential funding cut

Low-traffic neighbourhood trial should continue

Olympic cycling gold medallist Chris Boardman has claimed that Devon County Council risked losing vital funding if it had failed to stand by its controversial low-traffic scheme trial.

The county’s Exeter highways committee decided this week to stick with the trial, despite calls for it to be scrapped immediately.

A report from officers said the trial was not meeting a number of its targets. Traffic was higher on roads around the Heavitree and Whipton trial area and journeys were taking longer.

But after hours of debate, members of the committee decided to let the trial run its course. They also voted to keep control of it rather than giving council officers the power to decide when to pull the plug.

During the debate, Green councillors revealed that Mr Boardman – a cycling gold medallist at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 and now head of Active Travel England – had encouraged the council to let the trial continue.

He told them it risked future funding if it cancelled the trial early.

He said: “Councils who have committed communities as well as public money to conduct meaningful trials should think long and hard about abandoning them early.

“Not only does this break faith with local communities who supported the trial, it damages trust in the local authorities and makes it very difficult to trial future changes. In addition, as is outlined in guidance, if funded trials are removed early without very compelling evidence, this may well affect future funding applications.”

Professor Richard Betts, chair in climate impacts at the University of Exeter also backed the trial, saying it provided “a crucial opportunity to test a potentially important contribution to tackling climate change.”