After 2 years of hard work the Scaynes Hill – Lindfield Active Travel (SHLAT) group has published its Feasibility Report, which you can view and download from the SHLAT webpage where you can also find other information about this project. The report has been sent to West Sussex County Council (WSCC) as the Highways Authority responsible for bringing forward projects like this. About half the estimate project cost of £1 million has already been allocated by WSCC to this project from Section 106 funds, money paid to WSCC by developers to fund appropriate infrastructure improvements. WSCC have been requested to adopt the project and apply for the remainder of the funding required from the government’s Active Travel Fund, which is available to fund new Active Travel schemes.
A key adjunct to this project is a path about to be constructed through the Walstead Park development. The SHLAT path would join this path, which would then provide key connectivity to destinations in Lindfield and Haywards Heath. However, the approved plans for Walstead Park indicate that their path would only be suitable for pedestrians. SHLAT have been in discussion with the developers and established that they would be prepared to widen and/or realign their path to make it suitable for bi-directional cycling and walking, provided that it did not impact their planning consent. Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC), who are the local Planning Authority, have indicated that such a change could be treated as a non-material amendment, and so relatively easily achieved. SHLAT believe that the additional cost of this work could come from the S106 funds already allocated or from the S106 monies arising from the Walstead Park development itself and have also sent the report to MSDC asking them to facilitate the upgrading of the Walstead Park path.
If you support this project and would like to see it proceed then it would be of great help if you could write brief e-mails to WSCC and MSDC indicating your views and support, in order to demonstrate to them that there is a large demand for this facility. Details of who to write to and their e-mail addresses can be found on the SHLAT-Support webpage.