GM Moving submits evidence to APPG inquiry into active travel and social justice

By GM Moving | 06 January 2025 | TAGS: Walking, Walking Wheeling Cycling

Everyone deserves the freedom to choose walking, wheeling, and cycling to get around.

GM Moving are aware of the stubborn inequalities in terms of physical activity levels in Greater Manchester and nationally where opportunities are not accessible to everyone.

With this in mind, Greater Manchester Moving welcomes the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Cycling & Walking inquiry into active travel and social justice.

We share the APPG’s concern that, while movement is the foundation of good health and wellbeing, many people do not enjoy access to all the benefits of active travel.

This is why Greater Manchester Moving are proud to have submitted evidence to the APPG’s inquiry outlining numerous examples from our city region supporting people to choose to walk, wheel, and cycle around their local neighbourhoods.

As Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty wrote in his annual report ‘Health in Cities’:

"Cities should be ideal places for enabling active travel with shorter distances to the things we need or want on a regular basis. 

“Making walking and cycling more practical and safer, and access to green space easier and more equitable, would go a long way toward removing barriers to improving physical activity levels and could significantly improve the health of England’s increasingly urban population." 

Our evidence focused on four case studies:

• Right to the Streets initiative (full report and podcast available on our website)
• Beat the Streets in North Trafford
• GM Ageing in Place
• Cycle and Stride (report on this programme is due in Spring)

Louise Robbins, GM Moving’s Strategic Lead for Walking and Active Environments said:

“GM Moving and our partners across the city region are working collaboratively to create the conditions for everyone to move more by designing active travel back into life.​

“We all have a role to play and it’s been fantastic to pull a series of examples from Greater Manchester together to share with members of the APPG in Westminster.

“Whilst there’s been fantastic successes over the past six years, we know there’s more lots more work to do and we’ll continue to learn and share those learnings as the work develops.”

Find out more about Right to the Streets by reading our full report or listen to series 3 and 4 of The GM Moving Podcast here.