Friday 04 July 2014
Guernsey Press Enquiry:
In regard to the article on Page 4 from Tuesday 1 July, about Living Streets wanting the States to adopt its pathway, can the department please answer the following questions:
- Have Living Streets made a formal approach to the department about taking over responsibility for it? If so, what was the department's response?
- If not, would the department consider taking into ownership?
- Does it have the budget to take it on?
- Does it even think it should?
- Would it have to cut other programmes to be able to do so?
- Does Environment think another States department should take on the work?
This is not planned in for tomorrow, but if you could respond today, it would be appreciated.
Environment Department Response:
There has been no formal approach from Living Streets for the Environment Department to take on the path. Sadly, the problems the charity are experiencing in maintaining the path are not surprising and were largely anticipated by the then Environment Board and were some of the reasons why the then Environment Board did not support the creation of the path. Certainly at the time that the path was created the Department did not have the budgets or resources to rent the land, create the path and maintain it. Indeed it is inevitable that if the States did own/manage the path, the expectations of the users would be higher and the tolerance that users grant to the charity would perhaps be less forthcoming. As such one would envisage higher costs. In addition the then Environment Board never considered that the path presented a fully safe walking route with access to it passing, as it does, through an industrial estate.
With the Transport Strategy additional resources will become available but the Department will have to consider how best to prioritise those resources in order to create the walking and cycling networks promoted in the Strategy. The initial priority is likely to be in creating new cycle and walking routes rather than taking over responsibility for routes that already exist however this is something the Department would be happy to discuss with Living Streets should they make an approach to us.
Contact Information:
Traffic and Transport Services Unit
Environment Department
Tel: 243400
