Sir – I write in response to councillor Mathews’s letter (August 2) in which he appears to praise the efforts to provide an Eynsham to Botley cycle path on one hand, but pours cold water on it on the other.

To put the facts straight, the study was carried out by Sustrans not Cyclox. Sustrans is a leading UK charity which promotes sustainable travel and carries out transport-related projects throughout Britain, while Cyclox is a local cycling lobby group. Councillor Mathews says that the study does not include the cost of acquiring land, the possibility of moving hedges and complicated engineering work and suggests that the cost of the project could be at least £1,600,000. Sustrans’s study does in fact include the cost of all these factors within its estimated total of £970,000. ‘Bikesafe’ is a charity whose aim is to raise a substantial part of the cost of the cycle/footpath (which meets Policy CW5 of the County Draft Local Transport Plan) and to subsidise the cost to the county council. The highway is hardly used by cyclists on grounds of safety and the petition to support a safe cycle/footpath has received more than 2,000 signatures including a large proportion from councillor Mathews’s Eynsham division.

Indeed, at the Eynsham Carnival several hundred signatures were collected from people keen to support the project, many of whom expressed a long-felt desire to be able to travel the route other than by bus or car.

From our well-attended public meetings and wide support it is clear that a safe cycle/footpath would be of enormous benefit, well used by a wide section of the community and should be supported by politicians.

John Griffin, Trustee, Bikesafe, Farmoor