NCE have just published their new guidance on "Walking and cycling: local
measures to promote walking and cycling as forms of travel or recreation" -
see http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PH41.

This is a crucial piece of new guidance for anyone in the health, travel,
active living, housing or environment/planning field, plus anyone who
promotes walking and cycling as a volunteer/campaigner and indeed the
general public.

It sets out how people can be encouraged to increase the amount they walk or
cycle for travel or recreation purposes, which will help to meet public
health and other goals.

People with disabilities or working in that area should note that in the
context of the guidance, the guidance states that "walking and cycling
includes the use of adapted cycles (such as trikes, tandems and handcycles),
wheelchairs and similar mobility aids".

The intro says "Encouraging and enabling people to walk or cycle requires
action on many fronts - and by many different sectors. A range of issues
have to be addressed, including environmental, social, financial and
personal factors."

The recommendations cover:

. local programmes

. policy and planning

. schools, workplaces and the NHS.

In addition to the recommendations made in this (and related) NICE guidance,
other measures are needed to tackle the wider influences on walking or
cycling. This includes measures to reduce road dangers and to reallocate
road space to create a more supportive environment.

If you think this is a trivial or peripheral issue, you should appreciate
that inactive lifestyles are now causing as many early deaths as smoking -
if a virus was this deadly it would fill the front pages and dominate
debates in parliament.