February/March 2011
The newsletter for north east London LCC groups
Photo: Mat Schmidt
Getting around Copenhagen-style - Could we ever see the same in NE London?
Read my LIP2
A quick summary of what your
Council plans to do for cyclists in
the next five years.
Local Implementation Plan is a 5-year
transport plan each London borough is
expected to present to the Mayor of
London. The first LIPs are coming to an
end and boroughs have published the
LIP2.
This new LIP is especially important for
cyclists as Transport for London no
longer tells the boroughs how much they
are supposed to spend on us. This time,
it is all up to your local government.
At the time this newsletter was compiled
Havering have not yet published their
LIP2. The remaining four boroughs this
newsletter covers largely comply with a
set of targets set by the Mayor of
London. There are minor differences, for
example Newham simply accepts Boris’s
target modal share (percentage of trips
made by each mode of transport) of 5%
by 2025. Waltham Forest ups it to 6%,
Barking & Dagenham lowers it to 4.3%,
whereas Redbridge opposes it as
unrealistic and instead aims for 1.5% by
2025 – this despite extra funds it has as
a ‘Biking Borough’.
Reducing demand for travel is a
universally acknowledged Mayoral
objective, at least in new developments,
to be accessible by foot, by bike, and by
public transport.
Cycle contra-flows and fewer pinch-
points or road humps are to make our
Redbridge ◆ Havering ◆ Barking & Dagenham ◆ Newham ◆ Waltham Forest
boroughs more permeable to cyclists,
although Newham’s understanding of
permeability includes motor traffic.
Cycle training, parking, Boris bikes,
development and maintenance of a
cycling network, car clubs and electric
cars, support for cycle superhighways,
and more 20mph zones are universally
accepted measures for delivering the
target modal share as well as congestion
and air quality targets.
Segregated cycle facilities are mentioned
as a possibility by Waltham Forest and
Newham.
Home zones are promised by Barking &
Dagenham.
Restricting on-street car parking is on
agenda for Redbridge and Waltham
Forest. Barking & Dagenham plan to
‘manage on-street parking’ but also
‘improve local shopping parades’
through ‘improved car parking
provision’. Newham also plan a parking
policy but so far intend to give bus lanes
over to general traffic outside rush hour
and allow waiting and loading on red
routes, and increase ‘shopper parking’ in
order ‘to retain economic vitality’.
You can write to your Council with your
comments, unless you live in Waltham
Forest, who are the only authority not to
give their residents the right of
consultation. However, Waltham
Foresters are welcome to write their
comments to Gerhard Weiss at
gerhard@wfcycling.org.uk who will
incorporate them in the official response
to the Council.
Lost highway
Cycle Superhighway 2, planned
to connect Central London with
the Olympic Village, remains
blocked by the Newham
Council. After months of
protests the Council have
provided a justification.
The councillors, it transpires,
opposed the ‘coloured road surfacing
in accordance with design guidance
for borough roads’. They also believe
that sections of the project cannot be
carried out at the same time as the
Stratford High Street 2012 public
realm scheme, which has already
begun. Lastly, Romford Road is
believed too narrow and too busy for
the superhighway to run along it as
proposed. As a result the councillors
have decided to
defer the route
until after the
Olympic
Games.
Photo: Nico Hogg
Angus Forbes
and Suzannah
Walker of
Newham’s
children’s charity Woodcraft Folk
have both expressed
disappointment. ‘How do we safely
cycle a large group of children from
Forest Gate to the Greenway?’ asks
Suzannah. ‘We can share with young
people the skills of safer cycling but
the biggest obstacle is not
competence but the environment
that everyone in Newham must
brave whilst on their bike. The loss of
the cycle super highway through the
borough heralds yet another nail in
the coffin of the current and future
health and well being of our young
people. What is the point of teaching
them road awareness if the road is a
blatant death-trap?’
Read Arnold Ridout’s investigation
into the issue in the main magazine.
You can attend the Newham Council
meeting on 28 February 2011 to
protest against blocking the Cycle
Superhighway.
Wood St. zooms to doom
With its £500,000 regeneration
budget the Wood Street
shopping area of Walthamstow
had a chance to make a come-
back. 30mph speed limit means
Wood Street will remain in the
sticks.
‘20mph limit was part of the project
from the start and very rightly so,’ said
Gerhard Weiss, LCC. ‘Wood Street is
very narrow and busy with through
traffic as well as locals in one of the
most densely populated areas of
Waltham Forest. But campaigners
have been left feeling let down as the
20mph limit was ‘quietly dropped’ by
the Council.
‘We were told that it is because of
“legal implications”. Meaning another
consultation and signs put up,’ Weiss
explains. ‘For such spurious reasons a
huge opportunity was wasted! With a
30mph limit Wood Street will remain
as hostile to walking and cycling as it
is now and I fear shop keepers and the
community as a whole will pay the
price.’ Public consultation on the
project has finished in autumn.
WF Cyclists ask concerned cyclists to
contact their ward councillors: http://
myplace.walthamforest.gov.uk. You
can also copy in Gerhard Weiss at
Gerhard@wfcycling.org.uk.
Bikewise in Hornchurch
Hornchurch Country Park to be
a day-long cycling nirvana on
Sunday 6 March.
An event to promote cycling is coming
to Havering. As part of the schedule
Rides
&
Events
13 February - Bike marking at 245 Wood Street
27 February - Museum Ride - Walthamstow town square to British Museum. Leaving
at 9am, return 2pm
27 March - The Great Enfield Daffodil Ride - Walthamstow town square. Leaving at
9am.
17 April - The Lazy Marathon Ride - Walthamstow town square. Leaving at 9am,
return 4pm.
Find our new rides & events leaflet on www.scribd.com/wfcycling
the borough have announced off-road
cycling adventure, virtual races, bike
polo, guided rides, unicycle and BMX
shows, Dr Bike, as well as the staple
face painting, balloons, competitions,
refreshments, etc. The Police will be
on site to talk about safe cycling and
secure parking. LCC will also be
present.
Havering campaigner David Garfield
is dissatisfied with Havering’s choice
of spending LIP money and without
prior consultation with cyclist groups
in the borough. He said it would have
been better ‘invested in the overall
cycle-friendliness of the road system’,
adding that ‘when the right conditions
prevail, cycling is more-or-less self-
promoting.’
Cycling club turns sixty
The Forty Plus Cycling Club is
preparing to celebrate its
sixtieth birthday.
Throughout the spring and summer
events will be held in London, Essex
and the Home Counties, for members
and non-members alike – and as part
of the celebration the club is offering
free membership for the rest of the
year.
Active since March 1951, the club’s
schedule is relentless. Its 15 sections
ride nearly every day, so if you are
over forty there’s a ride for you
tomorrow. See www.fortypluscc.co.uk
or contact Havering’s Bernie Curtis at
curtisbernies@aol.com,
01708347226, for details.
Some of the club’s early members are
still around, cycling at 100… Happy
Diamond Jubilee!
Newham
Cycling in Wanstead Park
A cycle path going round the
Park is almost ready, but cyclists
are still not allowed in.
After a decade’s campaigning,
Redbridge are building a new cycle
path skirting Wanstead Park between
Warren Road and Park Road. Work is
due to begin on the final stretch
alongside Heronry Pond. During the
construction cycling will be permitted
across the Park, normally barred to
bikes.
Redbridge campaigner Gill James said
that this temporary access is as
welcome as the path itself as it makes
cycling to the shops, schools, etc.,
much more direct.
An opportunity to open the Park to
cyclists permanently has come up: the
Park owners, the Corporation of
London, are preparing a conservation
project. You can petition the
Corporation for two weeks in
February. For details look up
‘Wanstead Park project’ on
cityoflondon.gov.uk, or email
wansteadparkproject@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Local group contacts
Redbridge
www.redbridgelcc.org.uk
Havering
David Gould
http://tiny.cc/HaveringCC
Barking & Dagenham
Colin Newman
http://www.stibasa.org.uk
020 8144 8591
Arnold Ridout
http://tiny.cc/NewhamCC
Waltham Forest
Gerhard Weiss
www.wfcycling.org.uk
020 8521 1893