THE Snuff Mills Action Group is leading a campaign against council plans for a tarmac cycleway through an unspoilt area called Wickham Glen.

The city council's Cycling City Team wants to build a three metre (9ft) wide route through the area next to the River Frome between Eastville Park and Snuff Mills, including a ramp from Wickham Glen up to Broom Hill so that cyclists can get to town more quickly and to enable better disabled access.

Steve Micklewright, chairman of Snuff Mills Action Group and an ecologist, said the Cycling City Team had not taken into account the unique character of Wickham Glen.

He said: "It's a really beautiful spot next to the river between Eastville Park and Snuff Mills and has a long history dating back to the Civil War. It's not like a park but more like a bit of countryside in the city, and Snuff Mills Action Group is against it being covered in tarmac."

He said cyclists could use Wickham Hill instead of going through Wickham Glen as it had very little traffic. The Glen is part of the Stapleton Conservation Area and a wildlife site.

Snuff Mills Action Group suggested that a narrower cycle path would be more suitable but the Cycling City Team said a three metre route was needed for wheelchair users.

Ivor Needs, 78, a member of the action group whose son, Matthew, uses a wheelchair, said the route itself was unsuitable for wheelchair users because it is too long and steep and would come out on Broom Hill higher up than the current exit on Frome Terrace. This means there is a steeper uphill climb to reach the 75 metre long ramp.

He said he often went to Snuff Mills with his son and the two metre wide paths there were fine as cyclists had to go slower, making it safer for all.

The action group believes the route should follow the line of the footpath and exit onto Broom Hill by Frome Terrace, as this would help wheelchair users and result in the loss of many less trees than the current plan.

Mr Micklewright said the Cycling City Team initially agreed to a narrower path and other changes to the scheme, but the following week said the changes were no longer acceptable because of the needs of the "disabled community".

He said: "A few of us in Snuff Mills Action Group work with people with disabilities and we have been very offended at the way the Cycling City team seem to have cynically used the needs of disabled users to promote what is really a road – but a road that just happens to be for cyclists.

"In the process they could be ruining a beauty spot with associations with the English Civil War and somewhere that is just really lovely. Surely cyclists like a nice environment to cycle through too."

City council spokeswoman Lynda Wookey said: "The proposed path from Wickham Glen, Eastville Park on to Blackberry Hill, is intended for use by pedestrians and cyclists alike, avoiding the stile and steps. This link will provide a key off-road link right into Bristol's city centre, as well as a route for those who work and study at UWE.

"It is anticipated that it will be a busy path and so must be wide enough to accommodate all users without bringing them into conflict.

"As such it has been designed to conform to national guidelines and council equalities standards, which state that where possible the path should be a minimum of three metres wide."

The proposal will be considered by the council's South and East Development Control committee a week today.