A NEW walking and cycling path could be created between Chepstow and Tintern if a planning application gets the go ahead.

Sustainable transport charity Sustrans has submitted an application for a new mainly off-road walking and cycling route in Monmouthshire.

This would follow the former Wye Valley railway line through the lower Wye Valley gorge and will link villages and communities along the path.

The route would open up two former railway tunnels and build a new bridge over the Wye into Tintern at the side of the former railway bridge.

The scheme is being supported by the Wye Valley Communities for Safe Cycling and would be part-funded by Sustrans' Connect2 project through a grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

This UK-wide project aims to create new bridges and crossings over busy roads, rivers and railways.

Area manager for Sustrans, Rupert Crosbee, said the plan has been developed with the help and support of the local community.

He said: “Local people will now feel safer leaving the car at home and cycling or walking to Chepstow, and the new bridge will make it much easier for people to get to Tintern without using their car.”

Mr Crosbee said the route would be good for families who would be able to let their children cycle across the area without having to use a busy road such as the A466 or B4228.

Jeremy Cowen, spokesman for the Wye Valley Communities for Safe Cycling, called it a wonderful opportunity for residents to be connected one again by the disused railway line.

He said public consultations last year showed that 98 percent of the local people who responded would use the path with the majority using the path by foot or bicycle.

The planning application has been submitted to Monmouthshire council and the Forest of Dean council and is likely to be heard in mid-autumn.