Council Reports Myland Access Committee Another year: time to look back on what we’ve done and time to look forward to what we would like to do in 2024. As far as Active Travel goes, and despite what Essex County Council (ECC) and Colchester City Council (CCC) might say, it has not been a particularly good year. We’ve seen a further reduction in the length of public footpaths, we’ve seen no improvements to the necessary cycling infrastructure, and we’ve seen confusing changes to our bus services in order to “improve punctuality”. We have seen ECC, once again, ignoring government guidelines on cycling and increasing the amount of “shared use” pavements. We have seen CCC ignoring government guidelines on planning and protecting our public rights of way. Active travel – walking, cycling or public transport - has been severely disrupted by the construction of the Rapid Transport Route along the Northern Approaches. As if that wasn’t enough, the year ended with huge amounts of rain, causing flooding of many ditches in the Chesterwell area. Looking on the bright side, we did have a very successful Midsummer’s Day walk in June last year around the Myland Orbital, as well as a beautiful walk around roughly the same route on Boxing Day in December. The Myland Access Committee is about to have our first meeting of the year and we will be looking at providing short monthly walks around the area, two longer walks around the parish in June and December, and maintaining footpaths where we can. We shall also be keeping a close eye on planning and highway development, keeping active travel at the forefront of our thinking. We would also like to form a closer working relationship with the County and City, as well as with our several bus companies. If any if this interests you and you have an hour or two to spare – just give us a call! Robert Johnstone Chair, Myland Access Committee 7
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