Newsletters

    During 2006/07 we will produce 6 newsletters for distribution around Southampton. These are being paid for by a grant from Southampton City Council. Back issues are listed below, they are all in PDF format. If you would like to contribute news, views or events to the newsletter, please email it (in plain text format) to the Newsletter Editor. If you know of somewhere that would like some copies of the next newsletter for distribution, please email Newsletter Editor.

Welcome to the April 2007 Southampton Cycling Campaign Newsletter.
Firstly my apologies for the delay in publishing this newsletter. I am now the proud mother of a 3 year old, and 3 month old baby, so spare time is currently at a premium! I would be grateful for any information or articles that people would like to submit to future newsletters asap, so that I can try and get the next one out sooner! The deadline for the next issue is 1 June 2007. Thanks in anticipation of your help.

Please note that the website address has now changed to www.southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk. This was due to administrative difficulties renewing the old domain name. All email addresses have also changed, so please update your address books.
Debbie Back
editor@southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk

In this issue..._______________________________________________________________________

Southampton Cycling Campaign 2007
Changes and updates about the Campaign Vehicle Tracking and Road Pricing Controversy….
The most contentious petition on the Government’s new website Public Footpath Orders Public Inquiry
Summary of the inspector’s report National Cycle Network receives WHO Counteracting Obesity Award
www.southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk
Update on website development Wanted: Instructors In South Hampshire
Hampshire Cycle Training looking for freelance instructors www.FillThatHole.org.uk
CTC’s new website Events
Contact Information and Membership application
________________________________________________________________________________ Southampton Cycling Campaign 2007

There are a number of changes afoot within the Campaign in 2007. First of all, our Chair, Eric Reed, decided to step down with effect from January 2007. We would like to thank Eric for the tremendous work he has done for the Campaign, especially in the recent Rights of Way Public Inquiry, for which he gave up 4 days of his holiday. Eric has asked me to pass on his thanks to Tim and everyone else who has helped during his time as chairman.

Lindsi Bluemel has kindly agreed to stand in as Chair until the AGM (which will take place on Monday 14 May 2007, at 1945). There are also currently vacancies for Secretary and Webmaster. Are you looking for some additional skills to add to your CV? For further details on any of these vacancies, please contact editor@southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk. Please note that they are all voluntary positions, and it is possible that they could be undertaken by more than one person.

In the January 2007 meeting it was decided that the Campaign will be working towards getting cycle lane contraflows in a number of one way streets. We are also campaigning on a number of other issues, more details will be published in future editions. ________________________________________________________________________________

Vehicle Tracking and Road Pricing Controversy….

Those of you with internet access may be interested in a new facility available to present petitions to 10 Downing Street. The address is http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/. You may have seen in the news recently about the petition to the government to ‘Scrap the planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy’ to which 1,808,000 people have signed up (the deadline has now passed).

The discussion on road pricing, and the Prime Minister’s response to the petition can be found at http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/roadpricing/debate/. The Prime Minister says that no decisions have been made yet about road pricing, and that it has been proposed as a response to congestion, and not as a ‘stealth tax’ or ‘big brother’ surveillance. ________________________________________________________________________________

Public Footpath Orders Public Enquiry

The decision bundle of papers on the public footpath orders that were subject of the public inquiry arrived this morning. I do not know how many of you will have been sent copies, it is about 38 sheets of paper all double sided with print.

The inspectors report is quite comprehensive and interesting reading.

The inspector was not happy with the presentation of the order plans, she considered all had deficiencies, being not properly annotated in the prescribed manner, no widths shown, having no date, no key panel, unlabelled grid lines, no revision number and no clear title indicating the order to which each plan relates.( paragraph 14)

The inspector( in paragraph 90) said:-" It is somewhat disturbing that in this case the council did not accurately survey these routes before making the orders and that the omission of the widths was not a mistake but something that was intended to be added at a later date. However it is for the Council to examine its own procedures; the issue for me is simply whether there is evidence to show the width of each route such that I should propose to modify the orders accordingly. As a matter of principle I have no difficulty in doing so, although Paragraph 8 of schedule 15 of the 1981 Act requires that any such modification would need to be advertised" ,
The rationale behind each decision made is listed in the report.
The end result is as follows:-

Order A Gypsy Grove proposed for confirmation subject to modifications that require advertising - as footpath No.24 - I thought that might have been altered to a restricted byway.

Order B Western District Cut - as a footpath No.26 - this one has a no cycling TRO already.

Order C Cemetery Road (the extension section to Hill Lane) ditto but ALTERED to be RESTRICTED BYWAY No.91 - that is the one most people were concerned about.

Order D Northlands Gardens - proposed for confirmation subject to modifications that require advertising as a footpath No 92 - this is a maintainable footpath with a TRO prohibiting cycling.

Order E Millbrook station to central station - ORDER NOT CONFIRMED - this is already a publicly maintainable highway, so I suggest it is a case of now trying to get city council to install foot/cycle signs and give up on trying to register it as a public right of way on Definitive Map which seemed fairly pointless anyway.

Order F Church End - proposed for confirmation subject to modifications that require advertising but ONLY FOR PART ALTERED to be RESTRICTED BYWAY No.22

Order G Church End link - ORDER NOT CONFIRMED - inspector not clear on what basis Order was applied for, route is an accommodation road for access to garages and neighbouring properties, but is open at each end as a through route. It is not a maintained highway and ownership is unknown. There was not considered enough use by the general public either in terms of use or regularity of use to designate it a public right of way. Order H Silverdale Road proposed for confirmation subject to modifications that require advertising - inspector considered there to be just sufficient evidence to confirm route as a footpath No.94

Order J Archers road to Ranelagh Gardens - proposed for confirmation subject to modifications that require advertising as a footpath No.95 - this route was only built in early 1980s and was adopted a s a footpath only. I did not contest this routes at inquiry.

I reiterate ALL the routes A,B,C,D,F,H,J that are proposed for confirmation WITH MODIFICATIONS need to be advertised again AND ORDERS E AND G SHOULD NOT BE CONFIRMED.

This now means that the modified Orders will be advertised by Notice (in the Daily Echo again presumably). A copy of the notice will be copied to the city, the objectors (including anyone who has made a statutory representation), the applicant, other people who were given permission by the inspector to speak at the inquiry and any other people who have asked for a copy of the decision.

If no objections are received to the proposed modifications, the secretary of state or Inspector will make a final decision, which will confirm the order with the modifications they previously proposed. The final order decision will be sent to all the people who received a copy of the interim decision.

If there are objections to the modifications, they will be considered by the Secretary of state or Inspector. Dependant on the number and content of objections received, there may need to be an inquiry to consider the evidence they contain. If only a few objections, they may be dealt with by written representations.

Having considered objections, a final decision will be made.

Hope this is all clear enough, please pass on to anyone interested

Eric Reed
ex Chairperson, Southampton Cycling Campaign ________________________________________________________________________________

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1163679928500

National Cycle Network receives WHO Counteracting Obesity Award

The World Health Organisation has awarded the National Cycle Network, co-ordinated by Sustrans, a Counteracting Obesity Award. This recognises the role of walking and cycling in helping to improve health, over the ten thousand miles of the National Cycle Network.

Gill Harrison
Sustrans Press Office, 0117 915 0108, press@sustrans.org.uk ________________________________________________________________________________

www.southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk

Our own website has had a revamp, including a new brighter design, split into smaller sections. The news and events pages are now on their own according to the year, and a new page has been added on the Rights of Way problems. A new counter gives people an idea of who and how many people are looking at the web site. There is also a whole new section of club rides/reports, some with images and a media page. It is constantly being updated as it expands, so please keep coming back to the site to check out new additions.

Tim, webmaster@southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk

Tim is looking to step down as website editor, having made fantastic progress on the site. If you are interested in taking over as website editor, then please contact Tim for further information. On a technical note, the website address has now changed to www.southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk, due to problems with renewing the domain name. All email addresses also now end in southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk. ________________________________________________________________________________

Wanted: Instructors In South Hampshire

Hampshire Cycle Training is looking for further occasional freelance Cycling Instructors to join its small and friendly team to cover a variety of training activities. In addition anyone who is a County or School instructor may be able to help as an Assistant.
It is a really worthwhile and enjoyable activity, where you meet all kinds of people and gain tremendous satisfaction.

As well as child and adult National Standard instruction there are other opportunities ranging from school training to community projects, and from fun days to business training.

Help may be provided for setting up personalised local publicity drives for any Instructor working regularly with Hampshire Cycle Training. It is expected there will be a considerable growth in training opportunities next year and HCT has already been invited to several major events in 2007.

We are also looking for business partners to work with, to increase the availability of cycle training.

For an informal chat please contact:
john@hampshirecycletraining.org.uk
http://www.hampshirecycletraining.org.uk/ ________________________________________________________________________________

www.FillThatHole.org.uk

CTC have started a new website dedicated to getting potholes and road defects, across the UK, sorted out as soon as possible. You can report problems that you come across, which are then logged and shown on a map. This means that you can check if someone has already reported it. The website then contacts the person responsible for correcting the problem at the local council, and hopefully it will then get fixed as soon as possible!

Please check out the website to make sure that the ones you know about have been logged, and marked as fixed if they have been! CTC say that there have been 3000 reports so far, and that already 10% of them have been fixed (newsnet 02.03.07). Off-road hazards, such as fallen trees, can also be reported at www.ClearThatTrail.org.uk. ________________________________________________________________________________

Southampton Cycle Forum

The format of holding meetings has changed to include alternating meetings with rides. This is to provide cyclists with the ability to discuss schemes on site and gather options and views of new or proposed schemes (Editor – dates of meetings are listed in the ‘events’ section).

The forum rides and meetings will include Highways Design, Rights of Way, Sustrans, Schools Projects, Events, Police and The Common plus Ecology issues

This year the City Council will be promoting several Active Travel events which will encompass sustainable travel and environmental issues

Cycling projects are rolling in from many parts of the City

• Bitterne Park School has some mountain bikes for special pupil projects
• Dumbleton Copse at Thornhill is being developed, by a group of very enthusiastic young people, into a bike trials area. They have already set up a committee and are looking for sponsors to assist with materials. Contact Bob Reeves at Bob.reeves@southampton.gov.uk
• Also in Thornhill there is a project working with young people – teaching hem bike maintenance skills. If you have any old bikes or parts please contact Laura Jordan at tycyouth@btconnect.com
• There is interest to set up a young persons cycling club in the Millbrook – Redbridge area.
• We have put a lottery bid submission to provide a combined health and cycling scheme in three City locations
• The Go Ride scheme is progressing well – thanks to Mark Adams and the team from British Cycling
• The Southampton City Patrol team are expecting to be kitted up with cycles, during March, to “patrol” our streets
• I am in discussion with NHS Paramedics regarding a cycle unit in the City Centre

Dale Bostock
Cycling Development Officer
dale.bostock@southampton.gov.uk
023 8083 2366

Editor - The Southampton Cycle Forum is held by Southampton City Council, and is your chance to talk to the Council about cycling in the city. ________________________________________________________________________________

Events

* May 2007 - Ranger Training Day for Sustrans Hampshire Rangers.
* 6 May 2007 – Isle of Wight Randonnee 2007, Event duration 9am to 6pm. Anti-clockwise Direction. Choice of 100km and 55km rides. No entry fee, no need to pre-register. Start at any of the checkpoints on the day. Wayfarer CTC, info@cycleisland.co.uk.
* 16 May 2007 – Southampton Cycle Forum, Southampton Civic Centre*
* 21 May 2007 – Walk to School Week*
* 23 May 2007 – Walk to Work Day*
* 16 – 24 June 2007 – Bike Week. Further details on www.bikeweek.org.uk or contact Dale Bostock* for further info on council events.
* 20 June 2007 – Bike to Work Day, includes breakfast and a T-shirt for Southampton City Council staff*
* 7 July 2007 – Sustrans 30th Birthday Celebration, Castle Park, Bristol. www.sustrans.org.uk
* 7 July 2007 – Southampton Cycle Forum ride, Isle of Wight*
* 15 August 2007 - Southampton Cycle Forum, venue tbc.*
* 12 September 2007 – Commuter Challenge Day, try and use the car less, try public transport or walk or cycle*
* 15 September 2007 - Southampton Cycle Forum ride, details tbc.*
* 14 November 2007 - Southampton Cycle Forum, venue tbc.*

*Further details from Dale Bostock, 023 8083 2366, dale.bostock@southampton.gov.uk ________________________________________________________________________________

Get in touch

Chairperson Lindsi Bluemel. E-mail: lindsibluemel@hotmail.co.uk

Membership 39 Swift Road, Woolston, Southampton, SO19 9FP.

Want something raised at a meeting? E-mail Lindsi.

Meetings at 19:45 every 2nd Monday of the month (except August) at Friends Meeting House, Ordnance Road.

This newsletter is available online at
www.southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk

Membership application
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Annual fee (please circle) £10 Waged / £5 Unwaged
Return this form with your fee to SCC Membership Secretary,
39 Swift Road, Woolston, Southampton, SO19 9FP
Cheques payable to Southampton Cycling Campaign, please.

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• April-May 2004
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• September-October 2004
• February 2005 Doc or Text version
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• September 2005 Doc or Text version
• January 2006 Doc or Text version
• April 2006 Doc or Text version
• September 2006 Doc or Text version
• April 2007 Doc or Text version

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The New Forest and The New Forest Code (Text).

Chinese motorisation and cycling (Text).

Southampton Cycle Forum Minutes of the meeting held at Civic Centre Southampton on he 21^st December 2005 (Doc or Text).

Southampton Cycle Forum Minutes of the meeting held at Civic Centre Southampton on the 18^th May 2006 (Doc or Text).

Southampton Cycle Forum Minutes of Meeting held at Friends Meeting House, Ordnance Road, Southampton on the 11^th September 2006 Doc.

Southampton Cycle Forum Ride report held on the 6^th October 2006 Doc.

22nd September 2006 - Stagecoach wins railway franchise. Text file by Paul Walker.

Living Streets Community Street Audit of the Bedford Place Walk to Work Route .doc

Following a very successful summer, Hampshire Cycle Training has produced its first Newsletter (.pdf)- an occasional publication outlining its activities.

If you want to have a free environmental health check and/or off set your carbon emissions for your petrol car for a limited period - click here to download the document (355KB) from targetneutral.