Sustainable travel
Our sustainable transport vision
We are committed to helping our residents and visitors make sustainable journeys. These journeys benefit our environment, as well as our physical and mental health and wellbeing.
To learn more about our goals - and how we will work to achieve them - please read our vision document:
Read our Vision for Sustainable Travel
Active travel
We have produced a joint Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. This is often referred to as an ‘LCWIP’.
The Plan was developed following an extensive community consultation in 2021. The consultation helped us to identify improvements needed to help our residents and visitors feel safe and comfortable whilst walking or cycling around our districts.
Each proposed improvement has been prioritised into either a short, medium or long term ambition (based on a variety of different factors). A very rough estimate price has been calculated.
We do not have the funding to make these improvements. The prices that you see in the Plan do not mean that this cost has been budgeted for, or that money has already been allocated.
However, we can use the Plan to work with partners and look for funding for - and the delivery of - these improvements.
Read more information about the Plan - how and why it was developed, and how we hope to implement it, in our methodology report:
Read our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan methodology report
You can read the list of improvements, and further detail about how they have been prioritised via the links below:
- Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan schemes for Babergh
- Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan schemes for Mid Suffolk
The schemes are also displayed via the interactive map below:
Key:
LCWIP scheme (Cycling/Walking): Short Term ambition
LCWIP scheme (Cycling/Walking): Medium Term ambition
LCWIP scheme (Cycling/Walking): Long Term ambition
Network Zone for cycling - core investment area
Network Zone for walking - core investment area
Desire lines for active travel route infrastructure improvements/investment
National Cycle Route (on road section)
National Cycle Route (off road section)
The list of improvements and map of schemes - and how they have been prioritised - remain a dynamic part of our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. This means that the Plan will be reviewed regularly, and is subject to changes.
If you come across a new or urgent issue with existing cycling or walking infrastructure, please report a highways issue via Suffolk County Council's Highways Reporting Tool.
Such issues may include:
- damage to, or obstruction on, cycle lanes
- missing or damaged pedestrian guardrails
- problems with signage
For more information about walking and cycling in the districts, please access the following links:
- The Way to Go Suffolk - this website includes local walking and cycling maps
- Discover Suffolk - this website (and app) includes suggested walking and cycling routes
- Public rights of way and access in Suffolk - these webpages from Suffolk County Council (SCC) include information about how to access (and report problems with) the local public rights of way network
- Active travel improvements for cycling and walking - this webpage from SCC includes information about how they are working to improve cycling and walking infrastructure in the county. Information about local consultations is also included
- Quiet Lanes Suffolk - this website provides information about the 'Quiet Lanes' initiative, which provides safer spaces to walk and cycle
Encouraging more active travel
As part of our work to encourage more walking and wheeling, we regularly take part in - or share - national active travel campaigns, like Cycling UK's Big Bike Revival. We also run community engagement events, which focus on sustainable travel as a topic.
We have worked in partnership with Suffolk County Council, and Performance in Education, to deliver interactive, theatrical performances in primary schools. These performances encourage pupils and parents to travel to school more sustainably, and they raise awareness of the environmental benefits of doing so (which include reducing carbon emissions, and improving local air quality).
For more information about these performances, please access the following document:
Passenger transport (public and community transport)
Whilst we do not operate, or hold contracts for, passenger transport, we are committed to supporting the needs of our residents and visitors. Wherever possible, we support transport delivery partners so that they can do this.
Because of this, we are an engaged, committed key stakeholder in the:
- Suffolk Enhanced Partnership (for bus travel)
- East West Main Line Partnership (for train travel)
For more information about local passenger transport (including services and timetables), please visit Suffolk on Board's website.
To find out about rural community transport provision in your area - and to book a journey - please visit Suffolk on Board's Connecting Communities webpage.
Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure
We provide EV charging facilities within the car parks that we own and operate. Please visit the Car parks and parking section of our website for individual information about each car park - including number of bays, types of charger, and cost per kilowatt per hour.
Visit ZapMap's website for information about other public access charge points across the district.
We also work with our local communities, and Suffolk County Council's Plug In Suffolk programme, to support further EV infrastructure roll-out.
We have produced a Joint EV Infrastructure Implementation Plan, which makes suggestions for potential locations (on land that we own) for new charge points, as and when funding becomes available.