Your campaign is currently in talks with Essex County Council engineers over plans for a light-controlled crossing on Clingoe Hill, part of the works for the Salary Brook garden village and the rapid transit bus.

Like many such schemes, the devil is in the detail. We've seen the drawing for the project and we don't believe Essex has got the balance right.

It's replacing a pedestrian-friendly zebra crossing with a car-friendly staggered light-controlled crossing that mixes cyclists with pedestrians and doesn't allow for much growth in cycle numbers, let alone encourage new cyclists. It does however allow for extra car traffic flow and the rapid transit bus.

We're talking to officers and hope it will be sorted. If this crossing is likely to affect your journey please speak to us if you'd like more details.

We'll keep you in touch.

Picture: Google Maps

Over the years the campaign has taken part in umpteen consultations on cycling. The latest one, though, is more important than most. This is the about the emerging Essex Cycling Strategy. 

The campaign will be making an official response but please spare ten minutes to complete if for yourself. All views count and your view matters.

You can find the survey here: https://letstalkessexsustainabletravel.co.uk/essex-cycling-strategy

If you are reading this and can pass this message on to others, please do! It is important that we get a good showing from Colchester.

In case you missed the plug at the top of this newsletter, today is World Bicycle Day. Share your the love on social media using the hashtag #WorldBicycleDay2024.

Templates are available here:
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The artwork above is downloadable too.

Yet another cyclist has been stopped and fined by the Wise wardens employed by Colchester council to police the Public Spaces Protection Order which covers the city centre.

Stuart Braybrooke was on his way from work and wanted to avoid the St Botolph's roundabout as he'd been knocked off his bike previously. Unsurprisingly he didn't enjoy that experience.

Stuart stayed in the saddle and went on to the footway. He was riding slowly and with consideration for pedestrians when two wardens challenged him. They used the information on his work lanyard to give him a £100 fine.

The campaign has taken up Stuart's case and city councillor Martin Goss is looking into it. There's more detail here: https://road.cc/content/news/wardens-accused-lying-wait-pavement-cyclists-308467

The campaign says that if you are stopped it is up to you whether you give your details to a warden. Be aware that actual Colchester council wardens carry a warrant issued by the police and refusing to give details to them is an offence. We do not believe this is the case with the Wise wardens: the most they can do is to call the police to deal with the matter.

The key guidance in this area is known as the Boateng defence. Until we get a decent cycling network it is worth mugging up on it!

The defence dates to the Tony Blair government but has been formally accepted by home secretaries since.

It states: “The introduction of the fixed penalty is not aimed at responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of traffic and who show consideration to other pavement users when doing so.

"Chief police officers, who are responsible for enforcement, acknowledge that many cyclists, particularly children and young people, are afraid to cycle on the road, sensitivity and careful use of police discretion is required."

Picture: Google Maps

If you are interested in helping to devise routes for new paper maps for Colchester, please email admin@colchester-cycling.org.uk.

Remember if you see foreign tourists looking puzzled as to where to park their bikes, please direct them to the Colchester Cycle Park off Sir Isaac's Walk.

Will Bramhill, the CCC secretary, did just that. He was involved in a campaign photoshoot but broke off to help a couple from the Netherlands who parked their bikes while they enjoyed the city.

https://www.spokesafe.com/colchester-secure-bike-park

A city council meeting on July 9 will hear a status report for Middlemill weir. The adjacent cycle/pedestrian bridge has been shut since December 10 when the weir's brickwork fell into the Colne.

It is expected that the meeting will be told how much the repair will cost.

Theresa Higgins, a CCC member and city alderman, spoke at last month's full council meeting to point out how the closure, combined with events in Lower Castle Park, affects utility cyclists.

She told the campaign: "If you imagine trying to cycle from the Dutch Quarter to LeisureWorld, a trip many people make daily, you can see the problem if the bridge is still closed and the riverside cycle path through the park is shut for days on end."

If you are interested in attending the July 9 meeting, please email admin@colchester-cycling.org.uk

Latest from the Gazette: https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/24350247.colchester-collapsed-weir-plans-discussed-july/

Picture © Will Bramhill

Thanks to Jean Quinn and Emily Harrup who held a family fun day in Portal Precinct, where Colchester Bike Kitchen is based, on Saturday May 25. Activities included throw a bean bag at a bike and the woman, above, turned out to be dab hand. A young visitor enjoys a Pulp Fiction pedal-created smoothie, below.

The next Bike Meet is due to take place at 8pm on Monday June 17.  Members should watch out for an email giving joining details or a venue. Thanks to Theresa Higgins for chairing the last Bike Meet at short notice.

These cycle socks are bound to bring a smile to your face this summer. They cost £7 for five pairs and are in stock in Asda in Turner Rise, Colchester.

The annual world cycling summit organised by the European Cyclists' Federation is happening in Ghent, Belgium, on June 18-21. This year it will feature more than 400 speakers in 80 sessions covering topics including building an inclusive bicycle culture, cycle logistics, safe junctions and better intermodality. The ECF reported last month that more than 120 MEP candidates had signed its #VoteBikeEU campaign for the European elections, which take place this Friday.

There's still no news on when this important link between Colchester and the lanes around Polstead and Hadleigh will reopen. The chief campaigner, Lucinda de Jasay, is planning a first birthday party ... with a cake. We doubt she'll be wishing the barrier "many happy returns" but she does intend to invite councillors and council officials to try to chivvy them up to make repairs.

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, Jean Quinn, Nathaniel Catchpole, Alan Spence and Paul Byrne