Warwickshire’s Budget and Active Travel

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In what is an ideal opportunity to promote the benefits of active travel to the local authority, Warwickshire County Council is asking for opinions about its budget for the financial year 2026/27 – including areas of priority and those which maybe should/could receive a monetary reduction given the challenges all local authorities are suffering with regard to funding.

While on the surface some might think odd to prioritise cycle infrastructure when it perhaps means a reduction in spend for other areas – maybe Highways, home-to-school transport and public health (three areas which I selected with some difficulty) – there are significant benefits of active travel which hit multiple areas including those mentioned, and with the potential for very significant returns on investment.

This is the crux of my response in the survey, as follows:

I have suggested the previous three areas for budget reductions with the intention to find funding for the provision of sustainable and active travel. This has a number of cross-cutting benefits linked to those areas and, with proper investment, will realise financial benefits for the council.

Benefitting areas include:

• Improved public physical health by integrating healthy activity into everyday transport through walking, wheeling, and cycling
• Improved public mental health and wellbeing through the same, exposure to the outside world, and also reducing car dependency and providing transport choice and flexibility for those who may not be able to travel by car.
• Improved local air quality and reduced noise pollution through a reduction in the growth of motor vehicle usage, improving the local environment, working towards net zero and climate objectives, while also linking in to physical and mental health benefits, reducing demand on health services
• Providing independent care-free travel for all, but particularly thinking of young people travelling to/from school, reducing the need for parents and carers to undertake the school run and thus reducing motor transport demand and improving economic benefits for parents going to work.
• Economic opportunities that can be realised by making travel easier and reducing congestion for those that need to drive.
• Economic opportunities that can be realised by making Warwickshire a cycle touring destination suitable for all riders regardless of ability and confidence.

Active and sustainable travel development would naturally fit in the remit of Highways. So, while I have indicated a reduction in spend for that directorate, this actually means a reduction in spend on car transport and schemes, reallocating budget to prioritising walking, wheeling, and cycling. Active travel schemes generally have a very high benefit-cost ratio (BCR) – for those with a ratio of 5:1, for every pound spent on the scheme, five pounds is returned to the economy. This is significantly better than motor-focused highways schemes, and some active travel projects in the UK have been noted to be as high as 13:1. To not invest is detrimental to the local economy and thus the local authority itself.

For those who wish to submit comments, the survey is open until 12 October 2025.