After seeing the headlines I was positive and enthusiastic.
After looking at the reports I am sceptical and downcast.
I wonder at the quality of the condition reports, and question how the data was collected. The analysis looks spot-on, but if the data is suspect then it's a pile of straw. (Part of this relates to my current volunteering with Canal & River Trust, and none of my supervisors (fairly senior) know about any Sustrans audit of the towpaths in our region in the NCN)
I wonder at the will - particularly given the pathetic timetables - to deregister routes. Surely giving land owners, and more to the point, local authorities something of an ultimatum would help to focus minds (yes, I know about budgets, but hey! austerity is at an end.....)
My key sceptical moment was when I looked at the pathetically low number of 'Activation Projects' (great name
) for my area - East Midlands - and thought that if Sustrans are serious, this would be a catalogue of ambitious projects. If Sustrans are really committed to change then there should be scope for a
lot of new volunteer input, in new and exciting ways, and on new and interesting projects. But, I look at their volunteering opportunities pages, and what do I see? Zilch about the new vision.
I hope this pans out into a new vision - or a pair of visions - for high quality leisure routes
and for high quality transport routes, but I'm unimpressed at the moment.