Godalming Greenway Phase 1 Consultation

Surrey County Council have announced a statutory consultation on the construction design software Phase 1 here. This is not a new consultation on the overall scheme, rather under the legislation, specifically for the proposed signalised crossings and raised tables, to allow objections and comments from the public to be considered before a final decision is reached about whether or not to go ahead with the preferred scheme in its current form.

Our response to the Consultation:

As initiators of the proposal for a Guildford Godalming Greenway, we are very pleased to see its development progressing. Notwithstanding our name, Godalming Cycle Campaign supports all measures that will encourage active and sustainable transport locally. We support the scheme and wish to submit the following comments for consideration.

Bus stops

The proposal remodels bus stops along the route but their locations remain substantially unchanged. These historical locations undoubtedly best served needs at the time they were established but this is an ideal opportunity to question whether they continue to do so. We note two ‘destinations’ that were not in place when the stops were originally positioned that might now be served by bus stop locations.

1) Broadwater Park and its leisure facilities
The entrance on Summers Road is poorly serviced by buses and many visitors come by car. However, the park entrance from the Old Portsmouth Road just north of the lake (where the café kiosk is located) is only 500m from the leisure centre. It would take just 6 or 7 minutes to walk. The Old Portsmouth Road entrance is on a well serviced bus route but there is no bus stop here. By placing one of the stops with its associated crossing here, more people could be encouraged to arrive by bus. Signage and some minor remodelling would make the entrance more clearly an access point to the Broadwater leisure facilities. The stop could be renamed ‘Broadwater Park’.

2) Crematorium
Access to the Crematorium seems highly car dependent. Local people do walk but access from the Farncombe side is poor and does not encourage this. The existing bus stops are close but are uncomfortable to wait at and poorly connected to the Crematorium, particularly for those who are less mobile. The remodelling of the bus stops and surrounding paths in this area could do much to encourage visitors to use the bus service. Renaming the stop ‘Crematorium’ is also likely to help.

Roadside location

We fully understand that a roadside location makes land access and construction as straightforward as possible. However, it presents significant disadvantages to users:

• Increased exposure to chemical and particulate pollution
• Constant noise
• Headlight glare when travelling towards adjacent traffic
• Vehicle spray in wet weather.

We are deeply disappointed that the adjacent but more set back option that was originally proposed has not been adopted. We believe this is a missed opportunity for leisure and tourism. The roadside alignment will create a ‘utilitarian’ end result that will not bring people to the Godalming area for leisure. A ‘Greenway’ linking stations, as this does, and otherwise passing through open countryside could be a destination for visitors. It would bring trade to the town. A park route is attractive but a roadside route probably not.The roadside alignment also misses the opportunity to integrate the Crematorium with the active travel route. This could surely be a point for self-congratulation and to boast of more widely.