The County Council is encouraging people to go to thepeoples50million.org.uk and vote for Sustrans’ Connect2 project to receive a £50 million of Big Lottery Fund grant.
Some 79 communities around the UK, including Bexhill and Hastings, would benefit from the Sustrans, sustainable transport charity, winning the £50 million grant in the Big Lottery Fund’s: The People’s £50 Million contest in December. Winning the bid would mean the Hastings to Bexhill Coastal Connection pedestrian and cycle route would be completed.
Across the UK, Connect2 would build bridges, foot and cycle paths, and even reinstate a ferry, giving people easier and healthier access to their schools, workplaces, shops, parks and countryside. Connect2 is competing against three other organisations, with the winner being decided by the public through a national television vote.
The bid is supported locally by the County Council, Active Hastings, Rother District Council, Hastings Borough Council, Hastings Urban Bikes (HUB) and Freedom Leisure.
Work to promote voting for the scheme has included:
- a champagne reception organised by HUB and held at Spin City Cycles, Hastings to mark the launch of online voting attended by MP Michael Foster
- 70,000 leaflets distributed to Bexhill and Hastings residents this week, as well as leaflets left at all the major bike shops
- large banners displayed at all the Freedom Leisure centres in Hastings and Bexhill.
Councillor Matthew Lock, Lead Cabinet Member for Transport & Environment, said: "This cycle path would be a magnificent addition to the national network as it would be one of the few sections where you can ride so close to the sea but away from traffic. It would provide cyclists with an alternative to the busy A259, opening up car-free access to all sorts of recreational, shopping and leisure destinations along the way."
A short feature on the Connect2 project will be shown on ITV1 at 11pm on 4 December.
Internet voting started on 26 November, at 9am and closes at 12 noon 10 December.
Telephone voting will begin on Friday 7 December at 9am once the voting number has been released. All voting concludes at 12 noon on Monday 10 December.
Each of the bids will be highlighted in programmes on ITV1 in the week commencing 3 December. Sustrans’ Connect2 will be featured on 4 December*. The winner will be announced on 12 December.
Notes to editors
Sustrans is the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity. Its vision is a world in which people choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. It is achieving this through innovative but practical solutions to the UK’s transport challenges. Sustrans’ flagship project, the National Cycle Network, is now around 12,000 miles and runs within one mile of over half the UK population. During 2006 over 338 million trips were made on the Network. It is maintained by a team of 2,400 volunteer Rangers.
For more information about Connect2 visit www.sustransconnect2.org.uk , call 0845 058 13 73 or text Connect2 to 80010.
The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
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