Havering Council has approved its own plans for a new walking and cycling route through the Centre of Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) campus in Marsh Way, as part of a wider active travel scheme in the area.
The path will allow pedestrians and cyclists to travel from the entrance to the site at the A13 westbound slip road, to the exit road at the junction with Marsh Way.
It is part of a longer route being delivered either side of the CEME campus: a segregated cycle path between A1306 and the A13, linking to an existing shared-use cycle lane passing underneath the A13, and followed by the shared footway through the campus.
The aim is for the route to eventually connect to the proposed Beam Park railway station, employers in the London Riverside Business Improvement District and nearby housing areas.
As the CEME footway goes through private land, it is the only part of the route that required planning permission.
According to the planning officer’s report, no objections were made to the CEME path proposal, but Havering Cyclists – a branch of the London Cycling Campaign – asked that the route remain publicly accessible 24 hours a day.
The planning officer responded that access would depend on security measures adopted by CEME, given that it is a private site.
READ MORE: Cycle route from A13 through CEME campus plans submitted
Conditions for the approval were also set out, including that a construction methodology must be submitted before works start, as “insufficient information” about this was supplied in the application.
The council ran a consultation on the wider Marsh Way active travel scheme in March, with responses now published on the council’s consultation webpage.
A total of 25 out of 46 respondents (54%) agreed with the principle of the scheme and with the proposal for a shared-use section through the CEME campus.
The council said the consultation results have helped to inform their business case, which has been submitted to Thames Freeport to secure the funding needed for the project.
