Canterbury riverside: from Kingsmead Bridge to Barton Mill

Route

This route is a continuation of the proposed route from St Radigunds Street to Kingsmead Bridge. It runs from Kingsmead Bridge (photo) along the left bank (photo) of the Stour to the existing footbridge (photo) at Barton Mill. The new Kingsbrook Park housing development lies directly to the north of the route.

At Barton Mill, it joins up with two other potential routes:

• The route (photo) heading north-west towards Headcorn Drive.
• The route (photo) heading north-east towards Vauxhall Avenue.

The proposed route is about 0.5 km long.

Rationale

This route is of pivotal importance. It will, along with the proposed route from St Radigunds Street, provide a traffic-free route from central Canterbury running parallel to the busy, dangerous A28 arterial Sturry Road. In so doing it will link:

• Central Canterbury
• National Cycle Route 1
• Sainsbury's supermarket
• the new Kingsbrook Park housing development
• the new Barton Mill housing development
• the new Christchurch University student accommodation

and, along with the proposed route to Vauxhall Avenue:

• The Asda hypermarket
• The Vauxhall Road trading estate (Halfords, Currys, etc)

and, along with the proposed route to Headcorn Drive:

• the Hales Place district
• the Canterbury campus of the University of Kent

and, along with the proposed new footbridge (see above map):

• the area, scheduled for redevelopment, bounded by the southern bank of the Stour, Kingsmead Road and the Sturry Road.

Maps

• Open cycle map
• Google map and Bing map
• Ordnance Survey map (offers scale of 1:50000) or alternatively StreetMap (offers scale of 1:25000).
• It forms part of Route A on the map in the Canterbury Walking and Cycling Strategy (2003).

History

• 1999: Planning Application CA//99/00910 (source) for the Barton Mill residential development, including an S106 Agreement (Dec 2001) in which Clause 3.3 provides for the construction by the developer of a "Riverside Walk/Cycleway ... prior to the Finalisation Date". (See note on funding under S106 Agreements.)
• 2003: Identified as a potential route in the CCC Walking and Cycling Strategy document.
• 2006: Planning Application CA//06/00472 (source) This application (for construction of housing) includes a clause specifying "the erection of a new pedestrian bridge, riverside wildlife path and cycle path". There is, in addition, an S106 Agreement dated 11 Aug 2006 which provides for:
  • a contribution of £15,000 towards refurbishment of the Kingsmead Road underpass
  • a contribution of £57,500 for the construction of a pedestrian/cycle footbridge (clause 2.3.1)
  • the construction of a riverside wildlife path and cycle track (clause 2.1)
  Appended to the Agreement is a document, "Kingsmead Residential Development: Travel Plan", of which clauses (2.3 and 5.3) relate to support for cycling.
• 2009: Planning Application CA//09/00818 (source). This application appears to be an updated version of the 2006 application. It includes a detailed planning statement which makes various mentions of the cycle route and also mentions "contribution towards the riverside corridor as set out in the Riverside Strategy adopted by the City Council".
  The application includes a Deed of Variation for the earlier S106 agreement.
• 2010: Planning Application CA//10/01000 (source). This application is for the pedestrial/cycle footbridge over the Stour (as provided for in the above 2006 planning application). There is no further information available online; the follows details are taken from a paper copy of the plan available at the Council offices:
  • the overall site plan;
  • the bridge elevation (which shows its span as some 18m);
  • the bridge section (which shows it to be 2.5m wide).
• 2010: Work starts. Work on the cycle route gets underway (photo) during November.
• 2011: Bridge installed. The cyclist/pedestrian bridge is installed (newspaper report) during March.

Funding, sponsors and supporters

S106 funding under the various planning applications (see above) by developers of the Kingsbrook Estate is intended to cover the construction of the Kingsmead Road underpass and the pedestrian/cycle riverside path.

What the CCC Walking and Cycling Strategy document (2003) said

8.6.1 Riverside Walk - St Radigunds Street to Barton Mill - Plan Reference No A

The existing riverside walk between St Radigunds Street and Barton Mill could provide an attractive and safe cycle route into the city centre. The potential usage would be fully realised with links to the major residential areas of Hales Place Estate and Brymore Road area.

The factors affecting the various sections of the route are as follows:

Kingsmead Road to Barton Mill

There is an existing surfaced pathway along the riverside through to Barton Mill. A requirement of any future redevelopment plans of the Kingsmead stadium site should be the widening of this pathway to a 3.0 metre wide shared or segregated footway/cycleway.

From section 8.6.1 of the Canterbury Walking and Cycling Strategy (2003)

Present state of the route

The track from Kingsmead Bridge to Barton Mill is presently (March 2011) nearing completion.

Status

The route was not listed as a priority in CCC 2003 Strategy document and was not listed at all in the Green Corridors priority list of the CCC Open Spaces Strategy 2009-2014.

Next move

The opening of this cycle track is (as of March 2011) expected shortly.

Latest news

The Spokes blog carries the latest news for this route.

Last revised: March 2011
Validation