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28 Feb 2025

Independent cycling retailer and ACT member Velo Fit has become the first to stock a new brand of bikes focused on combining quality and affordability.

26 Feb 2025

ACT parent company Bira has cautiously welcomed Labour's Crime and Policing Bill but is calling for urgent action and immediate funding to address the surge in retail crime affecting independent...

19 Feb 2025

Electric cargo bike firm Zedify is set to enter administration following a failed search for new funding, after aiming to be active in 50 cities over the next few years.

18 Feb 2025

Halfords has upgraded its profit expectations for 2025 following a strong end to 2024, signalling a possible boost for the wider cycling retail sector after a difficult period.

17 Feb 2025

A £291m funding package from Active Travel England is set to be used for cycle lanes and improved junctions, while also supporting local businesses and making it easier to cycle to work,...

14 Feb 2025

The UK Government has removed anti-dumping tariffs on non-folding e-bikes imported from China in a move that has raised alarm within the UK’s cycling industry over potential market...

7 Feb 2025

ACT parent company Bira has warned that retailers across Britain face troubled times ahead despite today's Bank of England interest rate cut to 4.5%, as the Bank halves its growth forecast for...

4 Feb 2025

The ACT and legal partner WorkNest are hosting an exclusive webinar on how to remain compliant with employment law while making necessary business changes.

31 Jan 2025

New independent research has confirmed OEM e-bikes are effectively exempt from risk of battery fires, with unsafe post-purchase replacement batteries, conversion kits, and other equipment that...

31 Jan 2025

The UK Government has decided not to go ahead with proposals to increase the maximum power output of e-Bikes to 500W and to permit throttle assistance following a lengthy consultation process.

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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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