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9 Jul 2025

A recent BBC Breakfast segment has sparked backlash from the cycling community over its portrayal of e-bikes, with critics accusing the broadcaster of conflating legal e-bikes with illegal,...

8 Jul 2025

More than 30 locations across Scotland have seen a major rise in the number of people cycling, according to newly released data.

7 Jul 2025

Sixteen illegally upgraded e-bikes capable of speeds up to 40mph have been seized and disposed of in a joint enforcement operation in Birmingham city centre.

7 Jul 2025

Bristol-based Cytech training provider and ACT member Life Cycle has launched its award-winning Bikes Beyond Bars programme at HMP Bullingdon, expanding a project that has already impacted lives...

4 Jul 2025

New data from Strava reveals a major surge in cycling across the UK, with Gen Z and Millennials leading the charge.

3 Jul 2025

Shimano has launched an urgent investigation into what it describes as a “critical” shortage of skilled bike mechanics across Europe, warning that the situation threatens to...

2 Jul 2025

MPs have called on Amazon and eBay to tighten controls after e-bikes and chargers flagged as serious fire risks were found for sale on their platforms.

25 Jun 2025

The E-Bike Positive campaign has seen major success in the first half of 2025, with its message reaching nearly 8 million people across the UK through high-profile media coverage and growing...

20 Jun 2025

The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee has asked the ACT, and its parent company Bira, to help them reach out to small business retailers across the country, for their quick input on...

20 Jun 2025

Activate Cycle Academy has reopened its Cytech training facility in Darlington, offering a full range of courses from Home Mechanic up to Cytech Technical Three.
 

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Government accused of not consulting cycling bodies over National Trail overhaul plan

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News , Outdoor News

The Government has been accused of failing in its duty to contact statutory consultees within the cycling and equestrian sectors as part of a significant national trail overhaul plan.

Cycling UK, alongside the British Horse Society, have now written a joint letter to Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Ranil Jawawardena, calling on the Government to reconsider proposals that would effectively prevent people cycling or horse-riding along the length of England’s next National Trail, the Wainwright Coast to Coast.

Cycling UK says the oversight on the project, which is significant enough to command a £5.6 million overhaul budget, is cause for concern.

Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s head of campaigns said: “The Wainwright path is a fantastic attraction for the north of England, and it’s great news the Government wants it to be a National Trail.

National Trail

“There’s so much to celebrate about the new trail’s aims to increase opportunities for people to experience the outdoors, but what is frustrating is the tunnel vision automatically excluding specific groups like people cycling or horse riding, that is also contrary to government policy on outdoor access.

“If you ride a bike or a horse, you can use only 22% of England’s rights of way network or ride two out of 16 of our National Trails. We need to do more to increase access, not limit it. The benefits are real for rural hospitality businesses, which will see increased trade from a more diverse group of visitors.”

Set to become a National Trail by 2025, the route spans 197 miles, stretching St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hoods Way in North York Moors National Park. At the present time the route combines footpaths unsuitable for bike riders and horses and bridleways which are more welcoming to cyclists.

The Government’s oversight runs contrary to a recommendation made in the 2019 Glover Report, which was used to inform the Government’s Landscapes review, advising how to make national landscapes more open to everyone.

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