EACH of the 1,048 new flats planned in the proposed Woking FC stadium development will come with a free fold-up bike, to encourage “more sustainable travel behaviour”.

Developers GolDev say the new Cardinal Court site – five buildings between three and 11 storeys, adjacent to the new 9,000-seat stadium – will primarily be traffic-free and include travel corridors, including between each of the residential blocks, and a circulatory route around the stadium.

“The layout, design, and permeability of the site encourage residents and visitors to adopt more sustainable travel behaviour and travel to and from the site by foot or by bicycle,” said a spokesman.

Setting out its green credentials, the development would include a “community hub” with a concierge team, bike hire, cycle parking, car club parking spaces, electric vehicle charging points and a bus stop.

The plans for greener travel come amid worries of the effect of increased traffic in the area if the development goes ahead.

The application has also attracted criticism for having only 825 car parking spaces in a development for more than 1,000 new homes, with concerns that people looking to park will spill out onto neighbouring residential streets.   

Katie Bowes, from South Woking Action Group, which is opposed to the plans, said the proposals were unrealistic: “People in this area need a car and there is likely to be more than one car per flat. How do you do your shopping on a bike? There is insufficient cycle parking at the station and there are no cycle lanes.”

She added the provision of electric vehicle charging points was an obligation for all new buildings of this size.

Ms Bowes said that while efforts to reduce carbon emissions were commendable, only 3.1% of new car registrations in Surrey last year were for electric vehicles and there were fears of power failures without further infrastructure for such cars.

For the full story get the 23 January edition of the News & Mail and for Stadium development letters – see page 10