IN BRIEF
The planning committee of Stockton council, in England, has unanimously approved a cycling and pedestrian link between Milbank Lane and St Patrick’s Catholic College, in Thornaby — even though Cleveland Police opposed it. The force feared the scheme would worsen nuisance caused by motorbikes, and residents told the public consultation it would become “a highway for illegal e-bikes on drug runs”. The council answered with mitigation measures — barriers, rocks, lighting, fewer trees felled — and one councillor reminded the meeting that Thornaby had seen 36 incidents involving cars and bikes in eight years, seven of them serious.
In Thornaby, in north-east England, the objection raised against a cycle path did not come from residents alone: according to road.cc, Cleveland Police itself refused to back the scheme, citing nuisance from motorised users. Stockton council went ahead anyway, unanimously.
A cycle path approved against police advice
According to road.cc, which reported the meeting, Stockton council’s officers recommended approval of the scheme, and the planning committee voted it through unanimously. The link, for cyclists and pedestrians, will connect Milbank Lane to St Patrick’s Catholic College; it forms part of a plan for a joined-up network of cycle routes across Thornaby, intended to improve access to the town centre and to connect with existing cycling infrastructure.
Opposition from Cleveland Police was not a last-minute move. In last year’s public consultation, the force already said it did not support the proposed route, on the grounds that it had the potential to “exacerbate issues of motorcycle nuisance”. According to road.cc, it reiterated that position at the meeting, even though the local authority had agreed to changes intended to combat anti-social behaviour: removing fewer trees, and installing barriers and rocks along the route.
“A highway for illegal e-bikes”
The phrase that has followed the case around came from residents, not from the police. In the consultation, people living nearby wrote that, based on the council’s plans, “the rear of properties are exposed with increased footfall and a highway for illegal e-bikes on drug runs and suchlike”. The same objections claimed the scheme would make the path “impossible” for dog walkers and children to enjoy, while concerns were also raised about flooding.
The council responded through Simon Grundy, planning services manager, quoted by road.cc: while acknowledging the comments and the lack of support from Cleveland Police, he said the proposed mitigation measures “would help to reduce opportunities for anti-social behaviour”. Also according to road.cc, the council added that the route would be lit, that there was no evidence the scheme would increase crime in the area, and that the path had been designed with the safety of children in mind.
36 incidents in eight years, the argument that swung it
It was a local councillor who shifted the debate. Steve Godwin, a Thornaby town councillor, spoke in support of the scheme at the meeting, calling it “an excellent project”, and put a figure on the table: “Within Thornaby alone over the last eight years, there have been 36 incidents which involve cars and bikes, seven of those resulted in seven serious incidents and the rest were classed as slight.”
On the question of illegal machines, the councillor conceded the limits of the scheme rather than denying them: “Whilst it’s difficult to stop the electric bikes, the cars and quad bikes would definitely be challenged in gaining access to that area with the new proposals.” According to road.cc, he also said that “it would appear that the area would be far safer with them than without them”, and described the roads around Thornaby’s school complexes as “manic at certain times of the day”: “So anything that gives an opportunity to avoid that mania is certainly welcome.” And he recalled what the route is chiefly for: “It connects the top end of Thornaby with the bottom. It gives access to St Patrick’s School, which allows children and others to walk and ride there.”
