A Walking and Cycling Plan for Wellingborough, Rushden and Area
Here at Brightwayz social enterprise we are proud to be working with North Northamptonshire Council, Pell Frischmann and Kier to create a new plan for safe routes for the Wellingborough and Rushden area.
Our role is to ensure views, insights and ideas of local people are gathered and considered so an effective plan can be developed and, once funding is secured, delivered enabling more opportunities to walk, wheel, scoot or cycle.
The draft plans now have some detail and we'd like local people to take a look at the areas of interest (there are 31 different routes so just pick the ones you know!) and give comments and local knowledge to help us tweak and improve the plans accordingly.
Our draft survey was open from Thursday 2 May - Friday 31 May 2024.
The final draft consultation is now open on the Your Voice Matters North Northants Council Consultation website
Find out what we are doing, where we are going and who we are talking to by keeping an eye on updates here as well as on our facebook page which features our local forthcoming events and activities www.facebook.com/brightwayzuk
If you would like to get take part in future engagement activities for this project and have your say, please get in touch.
Engagement Events for the Wellingborough and Rushden Area LCWIP
Completed Event: Rushden Lakes, Monday 6 May 2024, 10am - 1pm
We will be at Rushden Lakes near Bewiched coffee shop between 10am and 1pm on Monday 6 May - a bank holiday so we are hoping for a good crowd. Our aim is to promote the survey and let people know how they can have a say on any of the 31 routes now drafted as designs. With Lucy, our team's transport engineer from Pell Frischmann, joining us there will be expert advice onhand for anyone with queries.
Come and meet us and also collect a free reflective smiley stick-on - great for bikes, scooters, mobility scooters, or even gateposts and wheelie bins!
Our mechanic Wesley will also be there offering free servicing for bikes or (non-electric) scooters.
Completed Event: Wellingborough Swansgate Centre, Saturday 4 May 2024, 10am - 1pm
This session is kindly hosted by the Swansgate shopping centre. Now we have more detailed draft plans, members of the public will be able to look at the routes that are relevant to them, ask our team questions and take part in the current survey for the project.
As a bonus we will be giving away a free 'smiley' stick-on reflector to everyone who visits our stand.
Completed Event: Irthlingborough Parsons Green, Wednesday 21 February
Although the larger towns are the main focus of the project, the smaller towns like Irthlingborough are included too in the plans. In partnership with the Town Council, we held a two hour session outdoors to gather views from Irthlingborough locals. Despite the drizzle and grey weather, quite a few local people stopped to talk to us and share their views of what is needed to make walking, wheeling and cycling safer in the town.
Completed Event: Wellingborough Eco Hub, Glamis Hall - Wednesday 21 February
We brought along out maps and had good conversations with attendees at the Eco Hub. As it was half term, families were there and the views of parents and children are important to understand. To encourage attendance we also held one of our 'Big Bike, Little Bike' free cycle service sessions which was very popular too.
Completed Event: Asda, Rushden town centre - Tuesday 20 February
In Rushden we held a three hour information stand in the entrance of the Asda supermarket in the town centre. As it was half term it was a busy spot with shoppers and passers by of all ages. We enjoyed some good quality conversations with local people from Rushden and surrounding villages, including some local teenagers who cycle everywhere and shared a lot of their knowledge of the area (and the needs for safer routes) with us.
Completed Event: Rushden Lakes - Thursday 1 February 2024
Our first 'Have your say' engagement event took place at Rushden Lakes on Thursday 1 February with the support of the Rushden Lakes Centre management. Large maps of the towns included in the engagement were shown and participants made their comments about the good, the bad and the 'what can be done to improve' routes for active travel. The post it note comments were then consolidated and written up as a report for the engineers and project team to read and use to build the scheme.
Completed Event: Nene Courtyard, Wellingborough - Friday 2 February 2024
A similar activity to our Rushden Lakes engagement took place in Nene Courtyard, Wellingborough on Friday 2 February. Comments covered Wellingborough town centre as well as Wilby and Little Harrowden.
Completed Event: Second Stakeholder Engagement Event
Representatives from local organisations with an interest in improving the walking and cycling routes for the area were invited to a second stakeholder event in late February in Wellingborough. They were presented with the initial designs for the network plans along with the local information already gathered. This was their first opportunity to comment on the design proposals before they are developed further and go out to public view.
Completed Event: First Stakeholder Engagement Event
This was held in 2023 prior to Brightwayz involvement in the project. The session helped bring together some initial partners to decide the area the project should cover. Originally planned for just Rushden and Wellingborough towns to have two separate projects. However feedback from this meeting led to the combing on the projects and extension of the project area to include other towns such as Irthlingborough and Finedon, making it a more larger project.