On 5th June, Surrey County Council submitted a bid for the first tranche of the £8.5m funding the Government announced it had allocated to Surrey to support Active Travel.

This first tranche of money is to support the emergency measures that are being put in place before further funding is being released later in the summer for more permanent measures.

Surrey County Council has put Active Travel as a top priority to not only tackle the 46% of carbon emissions linked to transport in Surrey but also the changing transport patterns of residents during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Cllr Matt Furniss says: "So far, we have had almost 400 suggestions for improvements that could be made to support active travel – the response has been huge and welcome from residents and groups in Surrey.

Today, an application has been made to government for the first tranche of national funding. We have applied for the maximum available in this tranche (£1.696m) and when awarded will use this to support many great ideas across the County. They will include measures ranging from widening footways for pedestrians and making it safer for cyclists."