Croydon Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2012-2017

Croydon Council recently launched a consultation regarding its health and wellbeing strategy for the next 5 years. You can read it in full here.  Most of the goals in this strategy would be easier to meet if cycling played a more significant role in the transport strategy, but cycling doesn’t manage to get a single mention in this document.  I have sent the below response to the consultation team in the hope they will correct this mistake.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to draw your attention to what I see as a great oversight in the health and wellbeing strategy.  In the entire document, there is no mention of the promotion of cycling and only a single mention of walking.  I’m sure you appreciate that every aspect of life in Croydon has an impact on overall health. As such, any strategy for improving health of Croydon’s residents must be co-ordinated with these other aspects, and in particular the transport strategy for Croydon.

Putting resources into making Croydon a safe and pleasant place for walking and cycling will help you with the problems you identified in your consultation document, including:

More studies into health benefits of cycling here

The document also highlights the correlation between poverty and poor health.  Cycling and walking are cheap ways of travelling, so the benefits can be realised by the poorest who will also benefit most from the savings.

I hope this has been enough to encourage you to consider including active travel a key part of your health and wellbeing strategy. We at the Croydon Cycling Campaign would be delighted if you would be keen to engage with us further to develop your ideas on active travel.