The leader of Bolton Conservatives has warned against wasting money on schemes on a debate about 'active travel' in Bolton. Active travel is essentially persuading people to leave their cars at home to walk and cycle and in a recent council meeting the borough's transport strategy to create 'safe, resilient and sustainable' travel in Bolton to encourage 'vulnerable people to travel with confidence'. Concerns were raised about safer cycling routes across the borough to persuade people to get out of their cars.
It was noted that, for a large percentage of commuters to and from district town centres, the distance travelled was just one or two kilometres and could easily be walked.. Cllr Martyn Cox, leader of Bolton's Conservative Group, said: “I do think the active travel stuff is slightly nuts, I mean, who is cycling home tonight? “A lot of people want to cycle for leisure, so open leisure routes, but the idea that we’re going to transform Bolton in a cycling community is really for the birds.
“In terms of going for carbon neutral electric vehicles – I think that is nuts – we’ll ruin our car industry, and the Chinese will flood the market with their imports. This will create an awful lot of poverty. “I think we need to think carefully about active travel, there’s already been money wasted on schemes, I don’t want to see us waste even more money on others.
” Yet for other councillors, active travel was a significant component in tackling congestion with adde.