Letter: Beware ‘Fake News’ in SCC’s Communications on Planned Roadworks

Published on: 9 Dec, 2022
Updated on: 9 Dec, 2022

From Terence Newman

In response to: Our Views on Proposed Changes Should Count

“Fake news” is a popular concept these days, and not just in the US. In a response to Burpham & Merrow (Guildford East) Community Group, Katie Stewart, executive director for Environment, Transport & Infrastructure at Surrey County Council, made the following statement: “In terms of why we are building new facilities for people walking and on bikes, we are committed to improving opportunities for walking and cycling in a safe environment given that in 2021, Surrey has the highest number of cyclist casualties in Great Britain.”

That may well be the case, but Surrey is a large, densely-populated county, and if you drill down into the data (Crashmap is a very useful website) you can see that in 2021, there was one slight incident involving a pedal cycle along London Road.

Ironically, there were two serious pedal cycle incidents along Parkway, where an already decent cycle route exists. So I would suggest that Ms Stewart, doesn’t try and justify her plans for creating havoc with Guildford traffic by making inaccurate, false claims. Leave that to Donald Trump!