Hereford is ideal place to swap cars for cycles

While we all love our cars, we also acknowledge that they bring their fair share of disadvantages.

Cllr John Harrington told over 40 people gathered for an online discussion held by the Herefordshire Green Network, that: “We are a city where over 50 per cent of people travel less than two miles daily.

Hereford is a compact city... an ideal city for modal shift to take place.”

It’s a shame that bus deregulation has made our bus service so inefficient, and not everyone can switch from a car but if many of us walked and cycled more we would be much healthier, it would be cheaper and it would help us decarbonise, because we absolutely have to, and it would make Hereford a much nicer place to be, significantly easing congestion.

Before lockdown, my trips to Hereford were frequent and from the south I would go straight to Rotherwas, jump on a Beryl Bike and cycle over the Skylon Bridge.

It was a wonderful way to enter and leave Hereford – people were relaxed and smiled at each other – the benefits far out-weighed the stress of driving through the city.

Those entering the city from Belmont can do the same, park at Belmont and ride into the city – if you have not done it, I would recommend it. I was surprised at what a great cycle network Hereford already has.

For details visit the council website at www.herefordshire.gov.uk. Some schools are starting bicycle buses where parents and teachers help groups of children cycle safely to school in groups.

Good things are happening around bikes and the Herefordshire coalition is committed to making it safer for people to cycle by providing good infrastructure.

Since I got an electric bike many of my short journeys are now cycled instead of driven. If we all bought our bikes and cycling gear locally it could help boost the local economy.

By changing our behaviour we can really make a difference – it really is just a small step out of our comfort zones.

Cllr Toni Fagan
Birch Ward