Sustrans wins £50million Lottery cash

UK riders got a £50million early Christmas present today when national cycling charity Sustrans hit the jackpot in a competition for a bumper Lottery money windfall.

Some 79 cycling-friendly projects across the country will get a share of the money – making it easier for six million people to walk and ride. Bikeradar.com got a tip off that Sustrans’ Connect2 project had won earlier today, when the charity was still in the dark about its success. Sustranspress officer Ruth Bowen told us this morning: “We’re sitting in the office waiting to hear.” But by the early afternoon the good news for the group was confirmed, with a 2pm announcement by competition sponsors ITV.com.

John Grimshaw MBE, founder and Chief Executive of Sustrans said: “This is fantastic news, and thanks to everyone for your help in winning £50 million of funding from the Big Lottery Fund for Sustrans to invest in walking and cycling UK-wide.

“This really is an amazing achievement for our charity and the many local authority and other partners with whom we will work on Connect2. We simply couldn’t have done it without you and your votes.”

The National Lottery People’s £50 Million contest saw four separate projects vying for the cash.Sustrans had an advantage though, because it was the only scheme which covered the entire country. The wide-ranging impact of the project saw newspapers across the country campaigning for a win.

The Connect2 project was developed by Sustrans working with councils and communities, and aims to transform local travel, and make it easier to walk and cycle for short journeys. Nearly two thirds of all car journeys in the UK are of less than five miles. Connect2 should provide an alternative, by creating new walking and cycling routes, and building bridges over rivers, railways and busy roads. Sustrans says this would enable more people to reach the places they want to get to in a way that would benefit their health – and the health of the environment.

Not every UK cyclist will be happy about today’s announcement. The Sherwood Forest was also vying for the cash, and would have spent some of it on improving 250km of mountain bike trails and paths through the famous woods. But support from film actor Kevin ‘Prince of Thieves’ Costner and current BBC TV Robin Hood Jonas Armstrong wasn’t enough to swing the votes in favour of the project.

The other schemes in the running were the Eden Project in Cornwall, which wanted to create a new building, and the Black CountryUrbanPark, which would have landscaped green spaces to link industrialised and deprived areas in the Midlands.

Scroll down for the full list of Sustrans projects now set to benefit.

Eastern England

Norwich – connections to Whitlingham Country

Royston railway crossing

St. Neots – a River Great Ouse bridge

Cambridge to Wicken Fen

Watton and Griston link

Cheshunt, crossing the A10 to reach the Lee

East Midlands

Carlton-le-Moorland and Bassingham Link

Holdingham and Sleaford over the A17 road

Leicestershire – links through WatermeadPark

Northampton – Briar Hill and Upton Park, River Wellingborough, Rushden, Higham Ferrers.

London

Islington Walking and Cycling Routes

CroydonParkLinks

Paddington – Westbourne railway bridge and links

South Bermondsey – disused rail bridge links

Bethnal Green and new bridge over Regents

Havering – IngrebourneValleylinks

North East England

Bedlington and Cramlington Connection

Ingleby Barwick, Yarm, Eaglescliffe and Blyth Ferry

Durham– Belmont to Newton Hall over Belmont

Northern Ireland

Derry/ Londonderry– greenway and cycle path

Strabane – RiverMourneBridge and links

DungannonParkConnections

BallymoneyRailwayBridge and links

Omagh – riverside path and new bridges

Three Mile Water greenway

North WestEngland

Nantwich to Crewealong the A530 corridor

Marple and Stockport, GoytValleyconnection

Huyton – The StattMoersParkLinks & RochdaleCanalTowpath Connections

Carlisle– Kingmoor and Currock

Padiham, East Lancashire Loop

Sale– BridgewaterCanal connections

Chesterconnections over the Dee

Northwich – Riversdale Swingbridge

EvertonPark and the Mersey

Bury – the Woolfold Gap

Maryport Station Links

Scotland

Glasgow – completing the Bridge to Nowhere

Dumfries– connecting two railway paths

Perthto Scone – RiverTayBridge

Hamilton, Chatelherault, Larkhall links

South East England

Links to the north Kentcoast

Dartford Riverside

Hastings and Bexhill coastal connections

Southampton– Itchen Riverside Path

Shoreham – harbour crossing

New Forest– Common Connections

Banbury, OxfordCanalLinks

South West England

Bath, Two Tunnels

Newton Abbot and Kingsteignton

Weymouthto Portland – Olympic connections

Connecting Salisbury, Alderbury and Wilton

Ottery St Mary over the river to school

Bournemouthand Hurn

Tintern – connection over the River Wye

Bristol– Ashton Park, Long Ashton

Wales

Monmouth – local connections

Merthyr Tydfil– Trevithick Trail to town centre link

Treforest – University links and connections

Port Talbot to Cwmafan and the Forest Park

Rhyl bridge at ForydHarbour, River Clwyd

Cardiff: the ElyRiver Connection

Newport to Caerleon

Carmarthen to JohnstonRiverside Links

Clydach, AfonTaweBridge

West Midlands

Worcester– a SevernBridge at Diglis Lock

Shrewsbury -The Severnside Gap

Birmingham – Sutton Coldfield, and the Plants

Kenilworth to Berkswell Greenway and Rugby

Leicester Road Viaduct

Hereford– The RotherwasSewageBridge

Yorkshire

Bradford Living Streets – ManchesterRoadBridge

Bridlington to Flamborough Head Coastal

Scunthorpe Ridgeway connections

Killamarsh – Halfway Tram Terminus, Rother

Harrogate, Ripley and the Dales

Brompton-on-Swale – a bridge across the river