Southampton Cycling Campaign

From Lindsi:

I have attempted to change the date of our next meeting from Monday 9th April (Easter Monday) to Tuesday 10th or the following Monday. However, I have not yet had a response to my email from Progressive Lettings, the organisation responsible for administering the Meeting House bookings. I have therefore decided that we will keep to the original date as I know some people are free and could attend. As numbers might be low we will have time to discuss a number of on-going issues in more depth than is normally possible and will not have a full Agenda.

Apologies to those who are away or cannot attend for any reason. Please try to come to the May meeting (14th), at which we will hold our AGM and discuss ideas for Bike Week.

Please think about standing for a position at the AGM. Some Cycle Campaigns have many more positions that we do, thus sharing the work, so please don’t be put off standing because you don’t have a lot of time to spare – an hour a week would be a great help.

The City Council has produced a draft plan for development in the city centre and you can see it here.

The Council is asking for responses to this document (link sent in previous email) by 23rd March.  In order to meet this target members of the Campaign will meet at 7.30 pm on Monday 19th March at 17 Whitworth Road to produce a co-ordinated response as this is more likely to be considered by the Council than a multitude of individual responses. If you would like to come along, please read the document before you come (as much as you have time for), concentrating on transport aspects.

Lindsi Bluemel, who’s now recovering at home after a serious cycling accident, is not only a leading cycling campaigner, but also an accomplished illustrator. Before her accident she’d created a 2012 calendar, featuring her historic Southampton watercolours, and this is now being offered for sale via bitternepark.info, or directly from Dilys Gartside (023 8077 7472).

Lindsi’s friend Ann MacGillivray writes: “Lindsi specialises in illustrations of historic buildings, and studied illustration at Solent University. She’s often been seen with her sketch pad and watercolours in various locations around Bitterne Park and often has spent time travelling further afield on her bicycle to capture ‘the essence of historic buildings’ around Southampton.

Lindsi’s delicate colour work demonstrates the ‘patina’ of these wonderful monuments of time.

In the past Lindsi has spent some time producing, promoting and selling her paintings and cards that depict her exquisite art with watercolours. Now for the first time she’s produced for sale a calendar of her illustrations. These are prints of original watercolours by Lindsi Bluemel. They are presented in a spiral bound calendar entitled ‘Historic Southampton 2012 Calendar’.”

Months and illustrations:

• January – Cobden Bridge
• February – The Bargate – North Front
• March – The Tudor Merchants Hall
• April – The Titanic Engineers’ Memorial
• May – The Old Wool House
• June – Terminus Station, Terminus Terrace
• July – The Medieval Merchant’s House
• August – The Royal Pier Gatehouse
• September – South Western House
• October – Former Royal Southern Yacht Club House
• November – The Dolphin Hotel
• December – The Bargate – South Front

Calendars are priced at £10 each plus £1.95 postage. You may also find them available through some local outlets, including Cobbett Road Library.

All proceeds from the calendars will go to Lindsi. Please note that sales are being managed by her family and not bitternepark.info and that orders are being taken via this method to be sent within the UK only.

Southampton Cycling Campaign members were shocked and saddened to hear news that Lindsi Bluemel has been seriously injured in a cycling accident. It appears that Lindsi fell from her bike after hitting debris in the cycle lane, while riding to a Sky Ride in Bournemouth. She is currently in a critical but stable condition in Poole hospital.

Lindsi has been the linchpin of our campaign for many years. As Dilys Gartside said: “Lindsi is a great champion for cyclists. She cycles more miles in a year than many people drive and she is personally responsible for many cycle facilities that have been installed over the past two or three decades. We all hold her in enormous admiration.”

I’m sure all members will join in sending Lindsi our love and best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

The next Southampton Cycling Campaign meeting is on Monday 11th July 7.30 pm at the Friends Meeting House in Ordnance Road. Please let me know if there are any local cycling issues that you think should be on the Agenda for Monday’s meeting. I have agreed with local cyclist Dan that we will discuss two issues of concern to him (and others) – lanes on Burgess Road and the route out to the west, which has been a longstanding cause of concern for many.

We will also discuss the following: Cobden Bridge, Rights of Way in Lordswood, Sainsbury’s site and meeting the new Transport and Environment Councillor, Daniel Fitzhenry.

If you have never been to a meeting, why not join us on Monday; we start with tea and biscuits and new people (you don’t have to be a member) are always welcome. If 7.30 is too early for you, come whenever you can as people come and go throughout the evening.

We also need extra ride leaders, so if you know any interesting routes and would like to lead a ride, please come along.

Lindsi Bluemel
Secretary, Southampton Cycling Campaign

Title: SCC at Eco Fair
Location: Central Library
Start Time: 09:30
Date: 2011-06-08
End Time: 13:00
Description: Southampton Cycling Campaign has a stall at the Eco Fair at the Central Library on Wed 8th June – offers of help, even if only for half an hour, welcome (9.30am – 1.00pm).

Also, outside the library will be the BIKE DOCTOR, so bring your bikes along and get advice/minor problems fixed. FREE.

Lindsi Bluemel

Title: Transport Short Films
Location: The Art House,  Above Bar
Start Time: 19:30
Date: 2011-06-03
Link out: Click here

Description: Transition Southampton present a series of inspiring short films (from www.streetfilms.org) which show innovative solutions to transport problems around the world. They will last a little over an hour in total. Come along and be inspired!

Ciclovia: Bogotá, Colombia – Every Sunday & holiday, every week, the City of Bogotá, Colombia closes down over 70 miles of roadways to cars and let people bike, walk, talk…

Physically Separated Bike Lanes – Physically separated bicycle paths exist in cities worldwide. This video explains what they are, how they work, and asks: “Why not here?”

Cycling Copenhagen, Through North American Eyes – While Streetfilms was in Copenhagen for the Velo-City 2010 conference, of course we wanted to showcase its biking greatness. But we were also looking to take a different perspective then all the myriad other videos out there…

PARK(ing) Day San Francisco 2006 – In San Francisco, the REBAR group organized a mass reclamation of automobile parking spaces to provide temporary green space for pedestrians to enjoy.

Summer Streets 2008 (New York City) – Feeling remarkably similar to Bogota’s Ciclovia, the New York City Department of Transportation held its first Summer Streets event on Saturday by opening 7 miles of city streets to pedestrians and bike traffic only.

Bus Rapid Transit: Bogotá – A look at the tremendously successful Bus Rapid Transit system which has revolutionized transit there.

Copenhagen Cargo Bikes – When you first visit Copenhagen, the first thing you’ll notice after being mesmerized by the sheer number of cyclists on the roads is the eclectic kinds of bikes, especially ones that carry groceries, baggage, furniture …

MBA: Highway Removal – A guided tour of past, present and future highway removal projects with John Norquist of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU).

London’s Do-It-Yourself Approach to Safer Streets – In the UK, the non-profit Sustrans is pioneering a community-based method to reclaim streets from high-speed traffic and make neighborhoods safer and more sociable places.

Doom rating: Zero! All films explore positive solutions to our cities transport challenges.

Where: The Art House, 178 Above Bar Street, Southampton, SO14 7WD.

When: 7:30pm, Friday 3rd June, 2011.

Entrance is by magic hat – pay what you can afford.

Best Regards,

Transition Southampton.

Access over 25,000 miles of walking and cycling network across the UK, anytime anywhere, with the complete National Cycle Network app. The free app is available from the iTunes store. Sustrans has created the app from their OS based online mapping facility and it has been specifically designed to help people make more of their everyday journeys on foot or by bike. The app has been funded by the Scottish Government and Sustrans.

Cycling Campaigners Lindsi Bluemel and Dilys Gartside have been championing the needs of Southampton’s cyclists and would-be cyclists for over a decade and this weekend saw their commitment and hard work recognised and rewarded. At the National Dinner and Awards Ceremony of CTC (UK’s cyclists organisation) held this year at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy, they were presented with 3rd place Campaigning Achievement of the Year cup, a framed Certificate and medal. The ceremony was attended by 150 guests and the prizes presented by Magnus Backstedt, Principal for the UK Youth Professional Cycling Team.

Title: Portsmouth Cycle Forum Meeting
Location: Portsmouth Guidhall
Description: You are cordially invited to the next meeting of Portsmouth Cycle Forum on Thursday 12 May at 7pm in Portsmouth Guildhall.
This month we will be having a report from the Velo-City conference held in Seville in March.
We’ll also have an update on the Local Sustainable Transport Fund bids by Portsmouth City Council and Transport for South Hampshire. The LSTF is a Government sponsored programme to reduce carbon emissions and boost economic activity in cities and towns.
Finally, we want to hear from you about your priorities for the Forum. What do you want us to do?
The meeting starts runs from 7-9pm in meeting room 1 at Portsmouth Guildhall.
Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2011-05-12
End Time: 21:00