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1 Apr 2025

Bira has voiced serious concerns over the latest figures from the BRC-NIQ Shop Price Index for March 2025.

26 Mar 2025

ACT parent company Bira has said the Chancellor's Spring Statement delivered today has failed to address the "perfect storm" of cost pressures facing independent retailers across the UK,...

25 Mar 2025

ACT parent company Bira has outlined its key priorities ahead of the Chancellor's Spring Budget statement.

24 Mar 2025

Activate Cycle Academy has delivered a five-day bespoke training course to help Metropolitan Police officers to crack down on illegal e-bikes.

21 Mar 2025

UK cycle industry trade bodies the Bicycle Association (BA) and Association of Cycle Traders (ACT) have issued a joint message to cycle retailers who may be considering fitting e-bike conversion...

20 Mar 2025

Businesses and individuals that have signed up to the E-Bike Positive retailer safety pledge are urged by the ACT share pictures of the in-store campaign assets in action with the association.

20 Mar 2025

Cytech, the internationally recognised training and accreditation scheme for bicycle mechanics, have partnered with Bristol-based charity Life Cycle to offer a range of bicycle mechanic...

19 Mar 2025

A lot of cycling retailers would consider managing inventory the most crucial aspect of running a shop, investing significant effort and time into keeping on top of stock. However, high street...

19 Mar 2025

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has translated its e-bike and e-scooter safety guidance videos into multiple languages to improve accessibility for delivery riders and other...

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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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