Developing and maintaining safe cycle routes is to be made a legal obligation for local councils in Wales, in “ground-breaking” plans set out by the Welsh Assembly.

Traffic-free routes for pedestrians and safe cycle lanes will be developed across Wales to connect sites such as hospitals, shopping centres and schools as part of the Active Travel (Wales) Bill, launched as a White Paper by ministers today.

Cycling campaigners are calling for similar legislation to be adopted throughout Britain. While the Department for Transport wrote to local councils across the UK in February to “encourage” them to “review” their provisions for cyclists, the bill proposed by the Welsh Assembly would make it a legal requirement for local authorities to plan “fully integrated transport networks”.

Carl Sargent,