Wales’s political parties talk active travel at our online hustings
With radical changes looking likely following the Senedd election on 7 May we want to know whether the next Welsh Government will share our vision of Wales: a Wales where everyone can safely walk, wheel or cycle for their everyday journeys.
A Wales where everyone can breathe clean air and everyone can enjoy stronger and better-connected communities.
We’ve been in touch with the candidates and you can contact your candidates too, asking them if they support happier, healthier lives through cycling.
It only takes two minutes to contact them, and you’ve only got just over a week left – so do please email them today.
Hustings
We joined up with Living Streets and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust and invited candidates from all the main political parties standing in the Senedd elections to come and explain how they will enable more people to walk, wheel and cycle if elected.
Two of the parties didn’t send candidates but those who did shared what their party would do to give people more transport choices.
During the evening we heard from:
- Steve Aicheler: Welsh Liberal Democrats
- Peredur Owen Griffiths: Plaid Cymru
- Paul Rock: Green Party
- Huw Thomas: Welsh Labour
Questions were put to the panel by our chair, the award-winning journalist Will Hayward, who began the event by sharing what is often forgotten: “What everyone has a consensus around is that they really want to enjoy and feel safe where they live.”
If people of all ages can choose to walk and cycle their everyday journeys, we can go a long way towards creating those welcoming neighbourhoods.
Vision and importance of active travel
All four candidates confirmed that enabling more people to walk, wheel and cycle is something their party is committed to.
The Green Party “want active travel to become an everyday easy choice for everyone in Wales,” according to Paul Rock. A commitment echoed by Plaid’s Peredur Owen Griffiths, who said: “We want a Wales where walking, wheeling and cycling are natural, convenient choices.”
Huw Thomas of Welsh Labour made the point that “effective transport and making active travel accessible is a social justice issue”. With Steve Aicheler of the Welsh Liberal Democrats commenting that: “At the moment, people have to use a motor car because the alternatives are simply not in place.”
Women and girls
Over the last year our ‘My Ride. Our Right’ campaign has been looking at the particular challenges that women face when looking to walk wheel and cycle, and what we and others can do to help change things.
Despite our best efforts to secure a more balanced and diverse panel, we ended up with an all-male panel, something that we asked the candidates to reflect on when answering questions about how we enable more women to get about by bike.
Huw Thomas made the point that “transport has typically been a male-dominated profession … too often engineering-led solutions rather than solutions designed with humans in mind”.
“Consultations should specifically include the voices of women,” was one of the suggestions made by Steve Aitcheler. With Paul Rock and Perdur Owen Griffiths both mentioning safety and feeling safe.
More women feel unsafe than men, so we need to do something to make everybody feel saferPaul Rock, Green Party
Too many people are feeling unsafe… too many parents are not comfortable letting their children walk or cyclePeredur Owen Griffiths, Plaid Cymru
Our ‘My Ride. Our Right’ campaign is premised on the belief that if we create an environment where women feel able to get about on foot and by bike then we have a far better chance of cycling and walking become normal everyday activities for everyone.
Funding, speed and road safety
In our manifesto we ask for a commitment to ringfenced funding for active travel, so there is dedicated funding specifically set aside for cycling and walking. While all candidates acknowledged that investment is necessary, only the Green Party confirmed a commitment to a dedicated fund.
There were more many more questions but one other worth highlighting here was one on speed. That 20mph limits save lives was something all panellists agreed on, but there was also discussion about the need to bring people with you when making changes.
You can watch a recording of the Hustings below to see exactly what the candidates said about these and other questions we put to them.
Closing statements
All panellists undoubtedly demonstrated that they appreciate the benefits of increasing the number of people walking and cycling, and in their closing statements referred to making walking, wheeling and cycling the easiest choice for people to make for their everyday journeys and of the benefits this would bring to people and place.
Contact your candidates
Soon after 7 May we will be contacting the new Welsh Government and all Senedd members to talk to them about how investment in cycling can benefit everyone in Wales and how we can support them to help make that happen.
You can help us to have more impact by letting them know that making cycling an everyday activity is massively important to you, their constituent.
