Campaigners are calling on local election candidates to commit to building a “game-changing” cycle network in a South London borough by 2030. Kingston Cycling Campaign (KCC) wants the party which keeps or takes control of Kingston Council in May to build cycle routes identified by Transport for London (TfL) as most needed in the borough.
KCC is pushing the parties battling for seats in the election on May 7 to pledge to build these five key routes, which were mapped out by TfL in its strategic cycling analysis in 2025. The map shows corridors in London where TfL would be most likely to provide funding to local authorities to design and build cycle routes.
Locally, the routes would connect central Kingston to nearby town centres – including Richmond and Wimbledon. They would also link Surbiton with Norbiton and New Malden with Worcester Park, along with improving connections between Chessington and Surbiton.
KCC, which is a branch of the London Cycling Campaign, said its demands came at a time when major developments, including the regeneration of the Cambridge Road Estate, were encouraging people to use transport other than cars by limiting parking provision.
Kingston’s climate action strategy up to 2030 pledges to “encourage sustainable and active travel, including walking, cycling and public transport, for everyone living, visiting, working or studying in the borough”.
Jon Fray, KCC spokesperson, said that while Kingston already had some good-quality cycle routes, building the cycle network identified by TfL “would be a gamechanger”.
Jon said: “Thousands of daily local car trips in Kingston could be switched to cycling if people felt safe enough. Parents would feel more confident letting their children cycle to school, and we’d start to see more women, elderly people and people with disabilities discovering the freedom, convenience, health and joy that a better-connected network of protected cycle routes brings.
“Ultimately the more residents that have the confidence to cycle, the more we will reduce traffic congestion, road danger and harmful pollution, and the less pressure will be put on local health and social services.”
Kingston Labour and Kingston Green Party have already pledged to support the group’s demands.
Kingston has been run by the Lib Dems since 2018, when the group took over from the Conservatives. Kingston Lib Dems has not yet published its manifesto outlining what it would deliver if it kept control of the authority in May.
All 48 seats on the council will be up for grabs across the 19 wards in the borough on May 7. Voters will be picking who they want to represent them in the borough for the next four years up to 2030.
The Lib Dems, Conservatives and Labour are each standing 48 candidates in the election, while Reform UK is standing 42 candidates and The Green Party has put forward 41 candidates. Kingston Independent Residents Group (KIRG) has put forward 36 candidates, while three candidates from The Official Monster Raving Loony Party and two Independent councillors are also standing.
