Issue
Cycleway being built across Coundon Wedge
Outcome
Stopped the Cycleway from being built
Year
2025
On 28th February 2025, I held a coffee afternoon at Coundon Social Club. Residents made it clear to me that the local community were upset about the lack of consultation on the plans for the construction of Phase 2 of Coundon Cycleway, which showed the Cycleway as to be built across the centre of Coundon Wedge.
Cycleways are a wonderful way to help improve road safety, improve links to and from our city centre, and a way to encourage climate friendly modes of transport. Like many of my constituents, I am by no means against Cycleways. However, local residents should have been given ample time to consider plans to extend the Coundon Cycleway across the Wedge. They were instead offered two drop-in sessions on Wednesday 12th February 2025 and Saturday 15th February 2025, held just days before works were scheduled to start on Monday 17th February 2025.
Following on from the coffee afternoon, at the beginning of March I met with Allesley and Coundon Wedge Conservation Society to discuss their concerns about the scale of the Phase 2 of the Coundon Cycleway. In order to best understand the issue, a few days later I also visited the Wedge to walk through the planned route.
When walking through the Wedge, I was able to see that the construction of Phase 2 of the Coundon Cycleway following the proposed plans would have seen a 6-metre-wide stretch of tarmac surface cut across Coundon Wedge. It also would include the removal of trees and hedgerows, and the installation of street lighting, benches, bins and CCTV cameras that could have disturbed the Wedge’s natural environment, rural character, and wildlife.
In order to ensure construction didn’t go ahead without sufficient consultation of the local community, I submitted a petition to call on Coventry City Council to stop plans to extend the Coundon Cycleway across Coundon Wedge.
Within 48 hours of posting the petition, over 750 people had already signed it. The Council then announced that Phase 2 of the Coundon Cycleway would not go through the centre of Coundon Wedge. This is a prime example of how collective action from the community can lead to real change and I’m very glad that the Council recognised the strong public opposition to their proposed plans. I have met with the Chief Executive of the Council to understand how we can ensure moving forward that residents in Coventry North West are properly consulted on plans like these.
During this time, we also heard from people concerned about accessibility issues related to Coundon Wedge. Whilst visiting the Wedge with the Allesley and Coundon Conservation Society, we looked at possible alternative routes for the Cycleway that don’t cut across the centre of the Wedge, as I understand that there is a real need for our local green spaces to be more accessible for everyone. I want to thank everyone that raised this issue with me via social media or email.
I have organised a meeting with the Parks Team at the Council to discuss how we can make it easier for people with mobility issues to enjoy Coundon Wedge. This includes specifically discussing the gates that people can use to enter the Wedge. Within this meeting I will be asking that the Council consult the local community on this issues. If anyone living with mobility issues (or any other hidden disabilities) has any suggestions on how we can make Coundon Wedge more accessible, please do email me to let me know your thoughts!
