Dear <<First Name>> 

Colchester Cycling Campaign is ticking along very nicely, thank you ... but we can always do with more members to bring their special skills to bear and to add to the diversity of views that power our organisation.

Today we're asking you to download and print off our new campaign poster and put it on a community noticeboard or in the window of a corner shop near you. Extra points if you can get them on display in Crouch Street!

A4 poster here.

Two A5 posters (one A4 sheet) here.

If you don't have a printer, please consider paying a few pennies to run off the posters you need at a print house. Mail Boxes Etc (MBE), to the left of the Playhouse in St John's Street, always has reasonable rates.

We also need you to star in the latest campaign snapshots for publicity and our website. See "Get in the Picture", below.

Despite showers, the first of Colchester’s six Kidical Mass bike rides of 2024 drew more than 60 children, their families and other adults.

KM's “park to park” route took riders on and off road from the play park in Richmond Road, near Abbey Field, to the café and play park at the Recreation Ground, Old Heath Road.

There we were joined by a contingent from Essex Pedal Power who had cycled from the Greenstead estate.

The safety of the riders was ensured by marshals. Music was provided by a volunteer with a mega-sound system on his bike trailer.

The event was organised by Jean Quinn, Kim and Simon Barnetson, who are cycling activists keen to foster KM in Colchester.

Jean said: "We aim to be part of the growing worldwide body of people with the same vision – to allow children and young people to be able to travel safely and independently by bicycle wherever they live.  

"We aim to highlight the need for 20mph streets with more cycle paths to enable children to walk, cycle and wheel to school safely.  Our mottos are 'Kids are traffic too' and 'Space for the next generation'.”

Kim said, “It was marvellous to see so many children enjoying cycling together, waving at passersby who cheered them on whilst being able to ride safely on the road, which for some was the first time.”  

At the end of the event riders enjoyed face painting, free bike marking plus the cycling tradition of eating and sharing cake together. 

Our Kidical Mass ride dates 2024
Saturday June 15, 3pm – Greenstead estate.
Saturday July 20, 11am – Wivenhoe Trail and a picnic on the playing field 
Saturday September 7, 10.30am – route to be decided
Saturday October 26, noon to 2pm – Firstsitem dressing-up Halloween ride
Sunday December 15, noon – Christmas ride with Santa

One campaign member was so shaken by a driver's bad behaviour on this corner of Norman Way that they asked their county councillor Sue Lissimore to help list the location for a road safety scheme.

Mrs Lissimore has promised to take the idea forward but has warned that the Colchester Highways Panel is a slow process.

Our member told her: "I’ve become increasingly concerned and, frankly, frightened, when trying to navigate the left turn from Norman Way on to the Commons when riding my bicycle, and especially when riding our cargo trike carrying our two young children. 

"The stretch of road from the Shrub End Road junction is just long enough for people driving cars to think they can accelerate and overtake before the junction with the Commons, but in reality it’s only just long enough to either pull alongside and/or perform a dangerous 'left hook' manoeuvre.

"This is compounded by the fact that it narrows down from a very wide road on Norman Way to a standard width local road on the Commons, and does so in quite a wide junction mouth.

"The result of this is perhaps two out of every three times my partner or I take that corner we either have to take defensive action to prevent a “left hook” or are pinched against the kerb by someone trying to squeeze past.

"This is especially worrying given how many children use that junction to access the nearby schools."

If you experience similar problems at this location, please write to Mrs Lissimore and copy in admin@colchester-cycling.org.uk. Don't forget to ask the schoolchildren in your family what they think too.

The campaign is having a set of new photos taken for publicity shots and our website. We need as many of you in the picture as possible, preferably in the clothes you use to ride around town.

Please join us and photographer Seana Hughes outside Crouch Street Bakes, Crouch Street, on Saturday May 25 at 11am. Over the next couple of hours we'll be moving on to the Head Street cycle lane, Jumbo, the town hall and the castle. Our good friend Lee Pugh will be giving Seana a lift on a cargo bike to get the best action shots.

If you want more fun after that, you can go on to the Family Bike Bonanza that begins at 1pm at Colchester Bike Kitchen, where there are games and crafts –and you can learn to mend your bike. Download a Bike Bonanza poster here

The cycleway in Head Street is finally open, with the last highways signs being removed on the night of April 29/30.

The route will mean cyclists no longer have to divert via High Street, Queen Street, St Botolph's Street, Osborne Street and St John's Street to get from the top of North Hill to Headgate.

It will make a lot of people's lives easier, including station commuters, hospital workers and students/staff at Colchester VI Form college and Colchester Institute. 

Obviously we're still a long way from having a full network – ideally we want the cycleway to continue through Headgate and up Butt Road.

If you are heading north using Headgate, please note that Essex Highways will be placing a sign (if they haven't already) which will allow straight-ahead cyclists to use the right (right turn) lane to go straight ahead, avoiding a lot of motor traffic. 

Cuts to public spending on cycling and walking in England should be overturned as government expenditure was already insufficient to meet legally binding climate targets, the high court has been told. Details here: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/apr/30/cuts-to-englands-cycling-and-walking-budget-challenged-in-court

Meanwhile this academic report confirms that cycle commuting is causally related to improved mental health. More here: https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/53/1/dyad153/7529101?login=false

Bike Events' Tour de Tendring ride takes place on Sunday May 19 as part of the Tendring Festival. There's a choice of two distances, 60 miles or 20 miles, and the ride leaves from both Clacton and Dovercourt seafront. Helmets required.

The 60-mile route takes in St Osyth with its Martello tower, Great Bentley, which boasts the biggest village green in England, and Clacton, famous for its pier and pleasure gardens. Details here: https://www.bike-events.co.uk/Ride.aspx?id=2738&n=y

The campaign is considering buying a Telraam traffic counter which is placed in a window on a busy street and provides the total number of cars, cyclists and pedestrians going past in a given period.

If you live on such a street and think the counter would be handy for giving you data to campaign for filtering or better cycling facilities, please let us know by emailing admin@colcheter-cycling.org.uk.

More about the counter here: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/telraam/

If you read last month's newsletter you will be aware of the Colchester cyclist who was fined for riding her bike on a shared-use cycleway.

Thankfully Helge Gillmeister was given a full refund by the city council.

Since then we've heard from another member fined for using the footway to avoid a busy stretch of road near the town centre because he felt unsafe. We're 

helping that gentleman fight his penalty. We have also put a freedom of information request (below) to ask the council how they enforce fines and more.

Without infringing on the GDP Regulation could you please let us know:
• how many cyclists have been issued with fixed penalty notices by city wardens since PSPO2 came into being?
• the circumstances in which the cyclists were penalised (for instance riding on footway or riding on footway and creating a nuisance to civilians)
• whether the wardens are employed by a third party?
• whether they have a target for the number of tickets they issue?
• whether their pay (or their employer’s contract) is dependent on the number of tickets issued?
• whether every warden is made fully aware of how and when to apply the Boateng defence?
• whether the wardens have the power to issue an FPN for the offences of riding the wrong way up a one-way street or on a footway where these do not fall under the definition and intentions of the PSPO?
• whether one particular warden is involved in more than a reasonable share of these cases
• whether the wardens are given bikeability training to help them to appreciate the subjective danger posed by motor traffic?
• whether there is any penalty for a cyclist who declines to give their name and address to a warden employed by the city council?

We'll report back next month.

You may recall that the campaign asked members to donate money in memory of Alan Palmer to fund signs for the new Alan Palmer Way, between Castellum Grange and the railway line.

A total of £236 was raised (the signs cost £100) but Colchester City Council generously agreed to cover the expense. We are now talking to Alan's family about how to use the money.

Alan's daughter plans an official unveiling but this has been delayed owing to a family member's illness. We'll let you know as soon as a date is set.

A new cycle route across the southern slopes of High Woods country park is going ahead thanks to a section 106 planning agreement with Persimmon, the developer of the Castellum Grange estate off Cowdray Avenue.

The campaign had asked if the money could be switched to complete the cycle path between Meander Mews and Ipswich Road south, but Persimmon declined.

We're not that put out! The High Woods route will give another, more pleasant option to get between the Ipswich Road/Goring Road area of the city and the hospital and railway station. 

We going to ask for in-path lighting (already used on the cycle path across the park from Thornton Drive to the Highwoods estate) and we hope the money will stretch to better surfacing at the Broadlands Way end of the path.

The New Town Bike Hub is open for business at Old Heath Recreation Ground, which is close to bus stops and a short walk from Colchester Town railway station.

Using Defra funding to encourage active travel, New Town was chosen by Colchester council because it is close to existing and forthcoming cycle routes. The community already has high cycle usage.

The hub holds four top-quality ecargo bikes which were chosen to be useful to as many people as possible.

They offer a realistic and active alternative to using a car, whether you are taking the family for a day out, collecting shopping or taking unwanted items to the recycling centre.

The bikes are priced affordably at £10 a day and hirers can book using the Spokesafe app.

After completing a short induction people can collect the bike of their choice and ride away.  

The hub is also the home of the New Town Bike Kitchen which is open every Sunday afternoon for bike repairs. It is next to the New Town Community Café.

https://www.newtownbikehub.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/groups/214473000812350https://www.facebook.com/groups/502343798511232

Colchester Bike Kitchen (off Sir Isaac's Walk) will be giving bike maintenance lessons all summer. Thanks to funding from Cycling UK's Big Bike Revival, these will be absolutely free.

The classes include:
• Introduction to essential bike maintenance

After last month's super talk by Carla Francome, the London campaigner, we are hoping to hold a Bike Meet pub meeting on May 20 at 8pm. If you'd like more details please join the campaign as a member or email admin@colchester-cycling.org.uk. It was lovely to see new people in April.

A cyclist sets off westwards along Cowdray Avenue shortly after it opened in 1933. The drivers look to be giving him a wide berth but they are more likely to be positioning themselves to overtake the vehicle with the camera on it. The houses in the distance are at the top of the section of Harwich Road leading up from Eastgate. Ipswich Road (south) goes over the railway bridge on the right. Note the Grecian-style lights on the Cowdray Avenue bridge pillars – only the brackets remain. To see the scene today, go to https://maps.app.goo.gl/5n3woBm66zxT8PUq8

There is still no word on when Boxted bridge will reopen despite a site visit three months ago by Tom Cunningham, the highways convener with Essex County Council.

Lucinda de Jasay, who lives next to the bridge, is hopping mad. "They said they'd look into opening the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists but we've not heard a thing in three months. Mr Cunningham is no longer responding to my emails."

You can give your verdict soon. The county council elections will be held in May 2025.

Have you signed the Colchester Cycling Charter yet? If not, please do. If you work or volunteer, please ask your organisation to sign too. The more people on bikes, the fewer traffic jams will snarl up our city.

Feel free to pass on this newsletter via email and social media by using the link at the very top ... and encourage your friends to join the campaign so they receive their own copy every month.

Chairman: Stuart Johnson
Secretary: Will Bramhill
Treasurer: Catherine Johnson
Your committee: Alex Hooper, Chris Stevenson, Alan Spence, Jean Quinn, Nathaniel Catchpole and Paul Byrne