Representation by Gravesham Rights of Way Committee (Gravesham Rights of Way Committee)
- Date submitted
- 22 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Our members are concerned with the impact the crossing, both during construction and in operation, will have on the rural areas and villages where they live and the countryside access enjoyed by all in Gravesham. We are concerned about increased motor traffic on surrounding narrow rural roads that will impact the enjoyment and safety of local people going about their daily lives and also the general population accessing the many open spaces and public rights of way. Our countryside access user groups welcome the proposed new public rights of way being created but have concerns with the lack of detail as to how they will be surfaced, who can use routes -walkers, cyclists, horse riders, will they be safely accessible without having to cross busy roads and what will their legal status be - Definitive Public Right of Way or some other status? What of the existing public rights of way network? How will construction and operation impact on use of the routes for all users and will they to be able to safely access them along busier local roads? The creation of several areas of nature conservation have been proposed. We would like to see, some, if not all, of these areas having public access. Our organisation has existed since 1974 and we have been consulted on numerous major infrastructure projects over the years - most recently the Wainscott Byass, HS1 High speed rail line and A2 widening. All of these projects have made a number of promises about improvements to countryside access and public rights of way but many of these promises were broken or poorly implemented once the construction was over. We look forward to being able to give further and specific details on the areas of concern in our Written Representation during the Examination.