I wrote to my MP, Kit Malthouse (Conservative), a couple months back. It took a bit of prodding but I did eventually get a reply. Unfortunately, his grasp of cycle funding is not in line with the reality. Nor is it in line with the recommendations from the ‘Get Britain Cycling’ inquiry.
Did you hear that? That was the sound of a couple more drops into a bucket. Worse, there’s a hole in it. The UK’s deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg announced in Bristol today that the equivalent of less than 1% of the Highways Agency budget; or 7 miles of new motorway; or 1 mile of the…
This week saw the Guide Dogs charity launch a campaign called #cycleyes — as in ‘Cycle Eyes’ not ‘Cycle? Yes!’ — although the latter is what they spelled, albeit with different punctuation! Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best of launches – a flawed survey’s results were highlighted and led to later retractions. The charity also missed…
Last week, the managing director of South West Trains told me that the plans for the forecourt of the Fleet, Hampshire train station were not yet finalised – see Reckless Cycling at Fleet Station. (UPDATE: front page of the Fleet News & Mail newspaper!) So, earlier this week I asked a construction site manager at the…
Back in January, the advertising standards authority (ASA) objected for “health and safety” reasons to a safe cycling advert by Cycling Scotland. That ruling caused a backlash by people throughout the UK; Cycling Scotland appealed to the ASA for a review of the decision. The following day, the Chief Executive of the ASA decided to withdraw…
The well known line from starving Oliver Twist, “Please, sir, I want some more” came to mind as I fired off yet another email to the elected councillors and council employees responsible for the design of the cycleway along Weyhill Road in Andover. The council state (my emphasis added): “The proposed scheme will implement a range of improvements…
It has come to this: the cycleway proposal for Weyhill Road in Andover was approved yesterday by the roads authority, Hampshire County Council, specifically Councillor Seán Woodward, the Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment. The works are proposed to start in September, with completion just before Christmas. The council’s stated aim of the now approved £230,000…
I have been trying my darnedest to convince Hampshire County Council and Test Valley Borough Council that their proposal for a cycleway – a single bidirectional shared path for people cycling and walking – along Weyhill Road in Andover is not of sufficient quality (to put it politely). I made two different proposals – both…
A couple weeks ago, I said that the proposed shared space cycleway for Weyhill Road in Andover was a Box-ticking Bodge Boondoggle. The Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council have received some money and are itching to spend it in order to say that they’ve “done something” for cycling. There is one tiny flaw in…
Test Valley Borough Council, working on behalf of Hampshire County Council, intends to widen the footway on the south side of Weyhill Road to accommodate a shared-use cycleway. That quote from the Test Valley Borough’s consultation earlier this year on the half-mile scheme in Andover, Hampshire, flags up almost immediately that it is yet another…