Southampton Cycling Campaign

It’s now less than three weeks to election day, so if you haven’t written to your parliamentary candidates, now’s the time to join the 1600 cyclists who have. It’s really easy – enter your postcode and the website comes up with a pre-written message to your local candidates (which you can customise), seeking their support for CTC’s Vote Bike Manifesto, or thanking them if they have already offered it. You can also check out what parties are saying about cycling in their responses to Vote Bike, and see which candidates have signed up. You’ll also be helping CTC identify potential new parliamentary allies, as about half of the elected MPs are likely to be new faces.

Big Bike Celebration June 13th 2010

Title: Big Bike Celebration 2010
Location: Riverside Park, Southampton (off Woodmill Lane and Manor Farm Road)
Description: A day of bike-related fun for all the family. Lots of free activities and prizes to be won.
Start Time: 10:00
Date: 2010-06-13
End Time: 17:00

• Prepare to be amazed by the mountain bike stunt displays
• Experience National Cycle Network Route 23
• Visit the bike shop stand for a free cycle check-up, advice and adjustments
• Take a turn on the bicycle powered smoothie maker
• Bring your bike – why not cycle to Riverside Park?
• Challenge your friends to a roller-race!
  Wierd and wonderful bikes at the try-a-bike-arena
• Join one of our friendly bike rides (click image for full details)

Title: CTC/Cyclenation Spring Conference
Location: Portsmouth
Link out: Click here
Description: Portsmouth is hosting the CTC/Cyclenation Spring Conference on Saturday 17th April. More information will be on our website in the New Year.

As the Forum is very involved in the Conference organisation we do hope to see as many of you as possible at the Conference – the theme is ‘Future Cycling Cities’.
Date: 2010-04-17

A midwinter celebration of green living

• Prizes from Cyclechic: five free pairs of Knog cycle lights!
• 700 FREE Home Energy Audits and Energy Performance Certificates to give away from eaga ltd
• Find out about Eastleigh’s new clean green car club Common Wheels and see the car
• Bring & take shop – bring your unwanted quality goods and take away what you want
• Advice on energy saving measures, grants, non-profit loans and benefits
• Free environment film club
• ‘Scrapstore’ creative workshop
• Stands from the local Fairtrade organization, Greenpeace, Eastleigh Transition Group, Atlantic Housing and more
• Games, competitions, refreshments

Start Time: 10:30
Date: 2010-01-30
End Time: 15:30

This article by a cycling QC is a calmly rational, yet quite devastating indictment of the way ‘Car Culture’ has stacked the legal odds against cyclists and in favour of motorists.

Eight minute trailer, for a new 55-minute documentary. The film follows two groups of young women from Darlington and Bremen as they discover what stops teenage girls from cycling. You can read all about the project on the Beauty and the Bike website.

Title: Special meeting to discuss Southampton Local Transport Plan
Location: Malvern pub, Winchester Road, Southampton
Description: Southampton City Council has asked Southampton Cycling Campaign, as a “stakeholder”, to respond to the new Lcal Transport Plan by 31st December. As there will not be time at the Dec meeting it has been decided to have an informal meeting to discuss the LTP and draw up a response which ensures that cycling is prioritised as the means of meeting the LTP targets – health, access, sustainability, economy etc. As the LTP will be in place for 15 years it is important to get it right.
Start Time: 19:30
Date: 2009-12-07
End Time: 22:00

This path has been used since time immemorial by cyclists to travel between the A27 and Warsash. It gives access to Sustrans Route 2 east to the Gosport ferry and Pompei and west via the Hamble ferry to Southampton. Recently NO CYCLING signs have been placed along the path and a very aggressively-worded sign prominently placed by the ferry landing saying that the land is privately owned (by HCC), cycling is not allowed on the path and the police intend to monitor the situation, challenge cyclists and take action. Walkers are encouraged to challenge cyclists as well!

I am sure some members of SCC will be familiar with this path and will not be aware of the new restriction. The path has never been a designated shared use path but local custom has always accepted cycling.

After investigations by Portsmouth Cycle Forum it transpires that Hampshire County Council will take into account evidence of continued cycle use of this path, and may adopt this as a shared use path:

I am happy to clarify that anyone is free to make an application to demonstrate that rights exist over a route other than those that are already recorded. In this instance I believe that you are seeking to demonstrate that the route is wrongly recorded as a Footpath as you believe that the path has been used by the public at large on bicycles for a long period and therefore ‘higher’ rights have been acquired. As I explained on the phone, this use needs to be for an uninterrupted period of 20 years or more before the use was called into question.

Applications should be made in the correct way to the County Council, supported by the relevant evidence. It is our job to assess the evidence and to decide whether it is sufficient to warrant the making of an Order to change the status of the route (to show higher rights than just Footpath).

It is therefore imperative that all those who have cycled the path during the last 20 years, and who feel it should remain open to cyclists, should complete a “user evidence form”.

Joanne Newell has kindly agreed to collate responses and submit them to HCC. Here are the instructions from Joanne:

Please find attached the 5 page User Evidence form (Questions 1 – 19 plus map)

Please complete the form, and also highlight on the map the route you have cycled (The map is not terribly clear so I have included an attachment which shows a map with the highlighted route)

If you can forward the form on to anyone else who can provide evidence of use, then that would be helpful.

Please return completed forms to:- 9 Gray Close, Warsash, Southampton, SO31 9TB.

I have put my name forward to collate these forms, as there is another section which needs completing before they can be submitted, and it may be off-putting for some people, as notices have to be served on landowners etc. Therefore if you wish me to collate your forms into one pack, then please return to me. If you wish to submit your own full application, you need to contact Sylvia at Hampshire County Council on 01962 841841 for the full pack.

From the Daily Telegraph:

Geoffrey Williams

A British adventurer who used the same bike to travel more than 30,000 miles through over 30 countries has had the cycle stolen from his backgarden.

Geoffrey Williams, 53, pedalled across the vast Sahara Desert and escaped from a Hungarian jail during his epic travels on the 1949 touring bike.

He also narrowly avoided being shot by border guards as he travelled from Hungary to the old Yugoslavia with nephew Philip ‘Phizzy’ Middleton, 42.

The cycle has survived numerous crashes including one which was so serious that Mr Williams had to undergo surgery on his back.

But now the yellow bike, nicknamed Celia, has gone missing after thieves managed to negotiate 7ft-high gates, a metal chain and two padlocks.

If you have any information about the stolen bike, please contact Hampshire Police.

Are you are sick and tired of vehicles blocking cycle lanes? Mybikelane.com is a website where you can upload photos and have a bit of a rant, without getting into an altercation with an angry driver. There are already sites for http://london.mybikelane.com/ and Oxford, many containing pictures of ice cream vans.

I have created Southampton as a new city on the site, so if cars parked in cycle lanes are getting you down, photograph them and post anonymously here: http://southampton.mybikelane.com/post/add