Funding award for mini-Holland feasibility study

Brighton & Hove is being given the chance to explore ways to further improve the city’s active and sustainable travel infrastructure.

We’ve been awarded nearly £80,000 from the Department for Transport (DfT) for a ‘mini-Holland’ feasibility study to assess how part of the city could be made as pedestrian and cycle-friendly as a Dutch city equivalent.

We’re one of 19 local authorities to receive this funding.

The feasibility study will focus on the Wish & Westbourne area. It’s been chosen because of its potential to develop a successful ‘Mini Holland’ including its two railway stations, bus routes, local centres, links to the seafront and employment areas including Shoreham Harbour.

It also contains three of the top priority strategic routes included in our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP).

Following the study, to be completed by March 2023, there will be a further DfT selection process to determine which of the 19 local authorities will receive funding to develop the project further.

Councillor Steve Davis, Co-Chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee said: “This funding is great news for Brighton & Hove and allows us to study and explore active travel improvements in this part of the city.

“While this is only a feasibility study at the moment, this is an area with huge potential for walking and cycling.

“We’re in the midst of a climate emergency and so we need to take every opportunity available to us to find ways in which we can continue to improve our active travel infrastructure which will encourage more of us to make sustainable travel choices.”.