Taking a step forward… Corby cycling and walking routes on Executive agenda

11 January 2024

North Northamptonshire Council will be asked to approve plans to adopt a series of walking and cycling routes across Corby at next week’s meeting of the council’s Executive.

A draft Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for Corby was consulted on in 2023 for 6 cycle and 13 walking routes and now Councillors will review the findings before discussing whether the plan should be adopted.

Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) provide a strategic approach to identifying cycling and walking improvements at local level. The ten-year walking and cycling plan outlines proposals for a network of safe routes across the area including dedicated cycle infrastructure, new footways, safer crossing, traffic calming and locations for cycle parking. The work on LCWIPs across North Northants have also been developed considering the North Northants Greenway strategy.

If the report is approved by Executive, a final version of the Corby LCWIP will be published on the NNC website. Subject to funding being available, preliminary designs for the priority route/improvements will be developed to form the basis of future bids for capital funding from the Government's Active Travel Fund or other suitable funding sources.

The Corby LCWIP is the second in a series of LCWIPs to go through formal approval, following on from approval of the Kettering LCWIP in 2023. The final LCWIP for the Wellingborough and Rushden area is currently under development. 

The draft plan has been developed to enable NNC to identify prioritised cycling and walking infrastructure to help with future investment, making the case for future funding.

The recent consultation shows there is a strong support for these routes in Corby and surrounding villages, with nearly 60% of respondents being positive or mainly positive for the plans, so it’s great that we are in a position to take another step forward and discuss it at next week’s meeting.Cllr Matt Binley, the council’s Executive Member for Highways, Travel and Assets

Having good cycling and walking infrastructure in place has numerous benefits for residents, as well as environmental benefits, including helping to reduce car journeys.

We are looking at improving cycling and walking routes across the whole of North Northants, with the LCWIP for Corby being one vital component of that wider plan.Cllr Jason Smithers, Leader of the Council

North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive will meet on Thursday 18 January at 10am at the Corby Cube. The meeting will be live streamed on YouTube and the agenda is now available online.