TAKING your life in your hands on a bicycle between Petersfield and Queen Elizabeth Country Park could be a thing of the past after a cycle path got the official go ahead on Tuesday. The long-awaited £788,000 partnership scheme between Hampshire County Council, South Downs National Park Authority and East Hampshire District Council will start "within weeks". The last link in the chain between Petersfield and the existing cycle route to Clanfield and Horndean brings to an end a long campaign by cyclists to to convert the former A3 through the Butser cutting into a safe route for walkers and cyclists. "Anyone who has ever tried to cycle down the A3 to Queen Elizabeth Country Park will know it can be a scary experience, and the new route will provide a safe way for people to get there from Petersfield," said Sarah Hobbs, community access officer for the district council. For full story, see this week's Petersfield Herald.