Almost 500 people sign path petition
Charvil: Signatures sought to create ‘safe and green’ route
A petition to create a pathway for pedestrians and cyclists travelling between Charvil and Twyford railway station has attracted nearly 500 signatures.
Lee Cripps, an IT director based in Charvil, has organised the change.org petition which saw 100 people sign in support during the campaign’s first 12 hours online.
Now, nearly 500 people have signed the petition asking for a safer, greener route between the two villages.
"It's a long-standing issue,” said Lee. "Twyford station is not a station that you can get to easily, unless you live very, very locally and, from Charvil, there is no pedestrian access to anywhere. It’s sort of out on its own. The pathway will link it to other places."
Lee works from home for
Vodafone and is championing the pathway for the wider community.
He said: “When I moved to Charvil six months ago I immediately saw the need for this pathway and wanted to restart the conversation with council again. The petition is a way of demonstrating the desire is there."
The proposed pathway, which has the backing of Charvil Parish Council, will be approximately one kilometre long and will run through existing green space and use sections of established pathways.
The key component is the creation of two bridges taking cyclists and pedestrians over two Loddon River tributaries and avoiding areas of heavy traffic and pollution along the Old Bath Road and at the crossroads at Twyford centre.
“There is an existing conversation around the Loddon
Long Distance Path which plans to run from Shinfield up to Woodley,” said Lee.
“If there’s funding for that project, which will include one of the bridges needed for our pathway, then we only need one additional bridge funded. Some joined-up thinking is needed to get on the same page at least.”
Charvil-based artist Este Mcleod, who has successfully campaigned on local issues from arts in schools to tree protection orders, is an advocate of the petition.
“It makes perfect sense. It’s a matter of building bridges over water to connect two villages together so that people have a safer, greener walk. Plus, Waingels College have opened up their catchment area so more students from this area could walk there each day.
“I know this issue has been raised before but I really hope that this time we get some action.”
Concerns raised against the project have mentioned disruption to natural sleep and wake patterns for local wildlife, something that Lee has considered: "It's great that people are raising these valid concerns. What we would look at is low level LED bollards, for example. But on the whole the petition has been widely supported.
“My goal is to get to 500 and
go back and maintain contact and keep it in front of those who can do something about it."
Station parking and pedestrian access statistics are currently being gathered by Great Western Railway’s regional growth manager, Edward Goose, who said: “GWR is keen to improve sustainable access across the railway estate, and we recognise that there are potential opportunities to do so at Twyford.
“While ideas are at a very early stage, we will continue to work with our partners to see what can be done to develop better walking and cycling to the station.”
Wokingham Borough Council had not responded to a request for comment at the time of going to press.