The cycleway in Head Street, Colchester, was one of the schemes realised after a £4 million grant from the government (Picture: Seana Hughes) |
Temperature rises in Colchester cycling circles |
Calm down, calm down, that was a test! |
Now that might sound like a lot of money but in infrastructure terms it is peanuts.
As a comparison, the planned 3km link road from the A133 to the A120 is set to cost £120 million ... yet the government seemed to be talking about £300 million for cycling and walking across the entire country.
We were growling "Labour, mutter, mutter, promises, Starmer, mutter, manifesto, grrr!" (especially in light of probable decisions on transport projects that some politicians may view as being sexier).
We were about to fire off a letter to Pam Cox, the city MP, but then Duncan Dollimore of Cycling UK, the national cycling charity, picked up on our discontent via social media.
He explained that the "allocations" are not new money and are made up of the cash set aside for 2024-25, ie by Rishi Sunak's administration.
Duncan said: "The big ticket issue for funding for cycling is the forthcoming spending review, which will set the window for transport spending for capital for the next four years.
"That’s what we need to press the Treasury and DfT on. A decision is to be announced on June 11, though most things will be settled by late April."
The campaign swung into action and a letter has been sent to Pam, pictured below, asking her to press the Treasury for more and sustained money for cycling and walking. |
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Now here's where you can come in. The more of you who write in, the louder our voice will be. Our local MPs are Pam, Sir Bernard Jenkin (Hythe) and Dame Priti Patel (Stanway).Please, please, write! Feel free to base your letter on ours!If you are not sure who your MP is you can find them here. You must write to your own MP or your letter will be ignored.Pam: pam.cox.mp@parliament.uk, Dame Priti: priti.patel.mp@parliament.ukSir Bernard: jenkinb@parliament.ukRemember that while Sunak's government did precious little for cycling, Boris Johnson's administration gave us Gear Change and LTN 1/20, the gold standard for English infrastructure. We believe that both Priti and Bernard helped us with that. |
This is your chance to help fund the campaign. We don't need much in the way of money but it does help occasionally. |
The next Bike Meet is our AGM: please make every effort to come along: March 18, 8pm |
The next Bike Meet will be our AGM. If you would like to play a larger role in the campaign, here is your chance. The meeting is on Tuesday, March 18, at 8pm.
A decision on whether this will be an in-person or virtual meeting will be taken soon. Joining details or a venue will be sent out nearer the time. |
That's not 1.5m ... and the police don't seem to care |
This picture is from the rear-facing camera run by Stuart Johnson, the cycling campaign chair, as he rode along the B1025 Mersea to Abberton road on Friday.
The cyclist in red is his wife, Catherine, the campaign treasurer.
Look at the space between Catherine's right hand and the Mercedes overtaking them – that's a lot less than 1.5 metres, as required by the Highway Code.
The driver is to get a warning letter. The police told Stuart: "The driver is clearly showing consideration by moving out across the centre white line."
Stuart said: "There's a total lack of empathy with how Essex Police treats this kind of incident. I have made previous reports for close passes that haven’t been as bad as this with the motorist being sent on a driving improvement course.
"Extra Eyes' decisions seem to be so subjective: it seems to be down to the staff member who deals with the report."
He added: "This judgment has rocked our confidence in the ability of @EssexPoliceUK and @SaferEssexRoads to protect cyclists from dangerous and careless drivers.
"How would Roger Hirst, the police, fire, and crime commissioner for Essex, like one of his family members to be passed so close by a fast-moving car? And how about the Extra Eyes team? What if this was their family?"
Are some of the Extra Eyes team being too fair to bad drivers? We think so.
If you ride in and around Colchester such close passes will be familiar but we always stress that it is poor behaviour that stands out. The vast majority of Colchester drivers are kind, considerate, patient and often move right over to the other side of the road when they overtake.
To the good drivers: many thanks, we salute you. |
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Under some countries' rules of presumed liability a driver is automatically at fault for any crash involving a child under 12 years of age (Picture: Hoàng Lê) |
Are you in favour of presumed liability? If so, please sign! |
Paul Avison, the campaign's former chairman, writes: This petition to the government asks for it to consider presumed liability in road collisions, a rule that applies in most of the rest of the world.
Presumed liability means that in any collision the Highway Code hierarchy of users applies. It is up to the driver of the larger vehicle to prove that the lesser vehicle or pedestrian had been reckless.
In many countries that test does not apply when under-12s are the victims – the driver is automatically at fault.
By “driver” here, I also include cycle riders in collisions with pedestrians, though thankfully that happens only rarely.
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Cyclists we meet: Dave goes all out to catch 'em all |
If you espy a cyclist with a trailer in north Colchester, the odds are it will be Dave Haig Smith, above, until recently a mystery man whom we seemed to see here, there and everywhere.
Dave, 63, of Mercers Way, invariably has his trailer attached to his bike, but most of the time it is empty. So what is he up to? CCC News bumped into him at the cycle racks outside Asda as he stared at his mobile phone. |
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The answer is an unusual one: Dave is playing Pokémon Go, an augmented reality game in which the player uses mobile devices with GPS to locate, capture, train, and fight against virtual Pokémon, species that have special powers
Dave said: “It’s a great game and it gets me out and about. I lost my job in the first year of the pandemic and I’ve had trouble finding another one. If I didn’t have Pokémon I’d shut myself away reading endlessly – but you need to be outside exercising at least part of the day and this gets me on to my bike.”
So there you have it: high-tech gaming meets a low-tech bicycle and trailer. Please give Dave a cheery wave next time you see him. |
Community-minded: Shaun Thomas and Sheila Cook of the Greenway project |
Making progress on plans for the Greenway |
Have you heard about the Greenway? It is the community plan for a path that will run from Halstead to Kelvedon via Earls Colne and Coggeshall. |
Your campaign played a role right at the beginning, about five years ago, advising the people behind the scheme how to go about things.
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National news you might have missed |
How to handle potholes on a bike -- January and February are peak pothole time on UK roads – when the weather is at its coldest and wettest. Rebecca Armstrong of Cycling UK explains.
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New powers for police to trace bike thieves |
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A course for older drivers |
Are you worried about an older relative's driving? Here's a chance for them to brush up their skills behind the wheel and make cycling and walking safer. The Safer Essex Roads Partnership is running free courses on road safety education which will bring people up to speed with rules that might have come into force since they passed their driving test -- including leaving cyclists 1.5 metres space when passing at 30mph. Serp said: "This is a chance to refresh driving skills and road user knowledge. Learn how to adapt to changes in vision, reaction times and road conditions. Stay independent behind the wheel for longer." See https://saferessexroads.org/mature-drivers/ |
What can you say about this but "wow!" Your campaign loves adventurous infrastructure. |
This intrepid tricyclist was probably struggling through the snow to the nearest shop for groceries ... or perhaps they'd just left the Leather Bottle pub and needed three wheels to stay upright.
The scene is Shrub End Road, south Colchester, date unknown. A Google Maps photo of the scene today is below, You can see All Saints church tower (over the top of the trees on the left) and the pub sign is still in place. The area would have been a lot more rural then and the locality was "Bottle End" – Shrub End itself was slightly to the north. It would also have been far more peaceful to live there. The junction was the location of Pedder's Cross, mentioned by Morant the historian, that has long since vanished. It must have been gone by 1830-1840` as its "supposed site" is marked on the map below. |
Try a ride in good company |
days since the bridge at Middle Mill shut |
"A key milestone was reached last month with the completion of a hydrology survey, providing essential data to inform the permit application. This will also help determine the design heights for temporary dams that will be installed to enable safe working conditions under the bridge. Ensuring safety and preventing any increased flood risk remains a top priority." Read more: https://www.colchester.gov.uk/info/cbc-article/?id=KA-04890 |
days since Boxted bridge shut |
We hear that Essex County Council is looking to see if it is safe to open the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists ... although this has been the case for some time. |
Hey boss, sign the charter! |
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. |
Don't bin me... pass me on |
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 JohnsonVice-secretary: Will BramhillTreasurer: Catherine Johnson Your committee: Alex Hooper, Chris Stevenson, Jean Quinn, Nathaniel Catchpole, Alan Spence and Paul Byrne |
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