What is a Quiet Lane?
They are routes where visitors and locals can enjoy the natural surroundings and use them for activities such as cycling, horse-riding, jogging and walking.
The idea is not to restrict motor vehicles on these rural routes, but to encourage considerate use of the road, so they can be shared and enjoyed by all.
An official Quiet Lane will have advisory signs at either end to show motorised users clearly that the road is a shared space. These green signs also clearly show the hierarchy of priority on the road, with pedestrians at the front and motor vehicles last.
What is Quiet Lanes Suffolk?
a county-wide project supported by Suffolk County Council’s Suffolk 2020 Fund, the East Suffolk Community Partnerships and the East Suffolk Greenprint Forum.
The project is run by a small group of volunteers working with Suffolk County Council to support Parish Councils across the county through the process of establishing a ‘Quiet Lane’ in their parish, going from the initial identification of suitable lanes, through the local consultation and application process to final sign-off and designation.
What does the project aim to do?
Its aim is to:
- benefit everyone who lives in, works in and visits Suffolk
- encourage the use of more active forms of travel such as walking, cycling and horse-riding.
- to improve people’s physical and mental wellbeing through Quiet Lanes; and
- support the drive towards making Suffolk carbon neutral by 2030
What has Wickhambrook done so far?
The parish council has identified some suitable lanes within the parish.
Wickhambrook has a wide network of single track lanes which link in with its footpaths and bye-ways, and could create a wider network of routes to open up access to cyclists, horse-riding and pedestrians.
The Quiet Lanes project has checked these lanes for suitablility, and this consultation is to ask residents in the parish their views, and whether individual lanes are supported.
What happens next?
We’re asking for your views on the proposed Quiet Lanes. Whether you support the proposals for each lane, or if not, what your concerns are. At the Parish Council’s next meeting on 29th July, any responses to this consultation, and any issues raised at the meeting by parish residents will be considered before councillors make a final decision on whether to put forward each proposed lane. Suffolk County Council then do a further formal consultation before any Quiet Lanes are adopted.
Which lanes have been identified?
Wickhambrook has put forward a fairly extensive network of lanes which link in with its footpaths and by-ways.
To the north of the parish, lanes from meeting green link into lanes proposed by Ousden Parish Council.
The QL project team has advised that the lane from Meeting Green to Coltsfoot Green is not suitable, due to the level of traffic. A traffic survey has also been requested for one of the lanes through Farley Green.
The un-restricted section of lane from Meeting Green to Boyden End is also being considered, although this does not currently show on the QL website (https://sites.google.com/view/quietlanessuffolk/map)
How you can help us
Please take a look at the lanes in detail. Either add your comments to the sheet at the Open Day on the 3rd of July, complete the short form below or e-mail the clerk at with your views, by Wednesday 28th July, or come along to the meeting on Thursday 29th July. At this meeting, the parish council will decide which lanes to put forward in its final submission.