MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SOUTHWARK CYCLISTS ON 8 MARCH 2006 19.00 at Blackfriars Settlement, 1-5 Rushworth Street, London SE1 0RB Attendees: Barry Mason (Co-ordinator), Hugh Bolton (Treasurer), Peter Corkill, Alex Crawford (Bike Show Resonance 104.4FM), Colin Hartridge-Price (Secretary), Gary Jones, Eleanor Purser (Planning and Campaigns Leader), Mark Ryan, Kit Reynolds (Webmaster), Sue Richards (Newsletter Editor), Roger Stocker (Southwark Council Cycling Officer). Apologies received: James Barber, Alastair Hanton, Rebecca Lack, Geraldine Mason (Sustrans Liaison), Jaqueline Saunders, Cheryl Williams. 1. Walworth Road As previously reported in the minutes, this is a £1.5 million project to widened footpaths, take out one bus lane and reduce motor traffic (including buses). Due to injury, the presentation by the Project Centre on the option finally chosen has been deferred to the Southwark Cyclists’ meeting on 12 April. Action Barry Mason 2. Minutes of the meeting on 8 February 2006 and Matters Arising The minutes of the above meeting were approved. Cycle parking facility at London Bridge (item 1 in the previous minutes) – Cyclists should await further information on this via the e-mail group and not contact the company direct. Rides (item 1) – Barry had heard nothing further from Scott Powles on the rides in Kent that, at the meeting on 11 January, Scott had said he would lead. No Further Action Proposed Cycle training (item 1) – Barry had written to Val Shawcross (Lambeth and Southwark's representative on the London Assembly) requesting an explanation for the reduction in the cycle training budget from £80,000 for 2005/06 to £35,000 for 2006/07. A reply was awaited and further action was likely to be required in view of the fact that no money had been allocated for cycle training for adults in 2006/07. Jenny Jones (Green Party Group, London Assembly) had confirmed the money for cycle training in boroughs was cut from the £1.8 million last year to £1 million for 2006/07, but Ken Livingston had now agreed to restore the £800,000. Jenny understood that an extra £500,000 for boroughs would be coming through but information was awaited on the further £300,000. Action Barry Mason Old Kent Road (item 7) – a Southwark Cyclists' audit ride on 18 February had identified potential improvements along the Old Kent Road and these comments had been passed on to TfL in connection with their current review. A response was awaited. Action Alastair Hanton/Eleanor Purser Southwark Community Council Grants (item 10) – Barry had circulated (at 17:43 on 19 January) the Southwark Cyclists e-mail list asking for suggestions on where the £1000 grants might be spent. Prior to the deadline of 17 February, Barry had applied for a number of grants, including: the Bird in the Bush BMX track; cycling events in Dulwich Park; more money for Burgess Park. City Cycling Forum Inaugural Meeting on 20 February (item 11) – this had been an interesting evening attended by about 50 people. The Forum had been set up by the City of London Corporation to act as a review body for the approach to the provision for cycling in the City. The central part of the evening was a question and answer session. Meetings would be held every six months. Saturday 4 March: Bike Magic Day (item 16) – the arrangements for this event outside Decathlon at Surrey Quays had been reported in the minutes of the last meeting. This had been an excellent day, with lots of good publicity afterwards for Southwark Cyclists. The Police had been very pleased with the event, and had issue 250 Immobilise stickers for bikes to be registered on the Internet. Alex Crawford reported that the event had generated lots of good ideas for the Resonance Bike Show radio programme. Decathlon wanted to repeat the event in the summer and we should make full use of the Press beforehand. Cycle Maintenance Classes (item 21) – the earliest date for the next session of classes was likely to be early April. Action Barry Mason 3. Cycle Saturation 2: Dulwich This is due to start after the Easter holidays. Southwark Cyclist James Barber (now a Dulwich resident) will be the project manager and will use Cycle Training UK. Barry had attended some 8 meetings to get this project off the ground. Southwark Council (Roger Stocker) had pledged £20,000 (£10,000 per school) and the two schools would each arrange and pay for secure cycle parking. The meeting AGREED that £1,000 of Southwark Cyclists’ money would be used for a “before and after” report to assess the impact of the project on the cycling habits of the participants. Action James Barber/Barry Mason 4. Cycling and the Council Elections on 4 May Southwark Cyclists will ask those standing for election in respect of the Labour, Lib Dem, Conservative and "Green" parties for their cycling manifesto. The letter requesting this was ready to go to Party heads, and will be put on the Southwark Cyclists’ website. A full list of those standing for election will be obtained by Alex Crawford and should be available shortly. Alex will record which candidates have been contacted. Action Barry Mason/Eleanor Purser/Alex Crawford/Adam Maddison Eleanor Purser had circulated to the Southwark Cyclists’ e-mail group on 7 March a draft “Cycling Manifesto for Southwark”. This was further discussed at the meeting and final changes agreed. Action Eleanor Purser 5. Rye Lane Community Cycling Group Training Project This is in response to an approach to Southwark Cyclists by a non-cycling lady who recognised the benefits (particularly regarding health and enjoyment) of cycling. The project now has the support of Southwark Council, The Peckham Programme, Southwark Primary Care Trust (SPCT) and Peckham Race Equality Unit. This is being regarded as a pilot project that could be rolled out elsewhere. It is a cycle training course for non-riders and novices of 3 x 3 hours (on 4, 11 and 18 April), based at Burgess Park Bike Track and led by Brenton Smith with two Cycle Training UK trainers in support. The first course would be aimed at those who had requested it – black African women from the Rye Lane Area. Students (maximum 12 per class) would pay a token £3 per course. For each of the three sessions SPCT will meet the cost of supplying a Community Nurse to advise on health and lifestyle etc. Southwark Council had pledged £900 and the Sainsbury Family Trust had pledged £500. Barry will apply for funding from various additional sources. The meeting AGREED that £500 of Southwark Cyclists’ money would be available for a before and after report. SPCT may assist with this. Anyone interested in helping with this project should contact Barry (0790 588 9005). Action Barry Mason/Alla 6. London Architecture Biennale (www.londonbiennale.org.uk) Barry and Eleanor had attended more meetings. This event coincides with Bike Week (17 to 25 June 2006) and Southwark Cyclists will lead 7 or 8 themed rides between properties of interest. Each ride will be attended by someone provided by London Architecture who is able to talk on the places being visited. There had been considerable interest in the Southwark Cyclists’ Summer Solstice dawn ride to Primrose Hill on 21 June to see the sunrise. This ride would finish at the Globe Theatre. Action Barry Mason 7. Bike Week (17 to 25 June) Southwark Cyclists' events for this will be discussed at the next monthly meeting on 12 April. This might include a bike fair to promote, amongst other things, cycle security. Possible venues were Burgess Park, the BMX track or (most likely) Dulwich Park. Action All 8. Southwark Bike Theft Project Since the last meeting of Southwark Cyclists there had been no meetings on this joint project between Southwark Council, Southwark Police and Southwark Cyclists. Southwark Council had agreed to produce a cycling banner that Southwark Cyclists could use for events, but this was yet to be received. Action Colin H-P 9. Herne Hill Velodrome This was about to reopen and there was a need to revive The Friends of Herne Hill Velodrome, encourage new users and promote marketing and fundraising. The Velodrome was being run by the Veloclub de Londres. An international event, with some big-name riders, is to be held on Good Friday 14 April and Barry will be leading a ride to this. There had been 3,000 to 4,000 attendees at the last Good Friday international event there. Southwark Cyclists may have a stall, for which Peter Corkill may be able to provide a 6 x 3 metre marquee. Action Peter Corkill/Alastair Hanton/Barry Mason 10. Planning and Campaigns Group All matters have been covered elsewhere in these minutes. 11. Financial Report Southwark Cyclists receives an annual grant from the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) of about £500, based on our membership. However, this barely covers the cost of hiring the hall for our monthly meetings. As previously noted, our bank account does not earn interest at present. The LCC is applying for charity status, which would then extend to Southwark Cyclists, since we are part of the LCC. If Southwark Cyclists qualifies for charity status, it would be straightforward to apply for an interest-bearing current account. It would also mean we could Gift Aid money. The Treasurer was finalising the accounts but it appeared there was about £3,000 in unrestricted funds (i.e. funds not earmarked for projects). This would be reduced by the £1,500 the meeting had AGREED for before and after reports for items 3 and 5 above. Action Hugh Bolton 12. Newsletter Sue Richards had produced a new Newsletter for distribution at the Bike Magic day on 4 March. 13. LCC Olympics Working Group Barry had asked the Southwark Cyclists e-mail group on 15 February for a volunteer for the LCC Olympics Working Group but no-one had come forward. Anyone interested should contact Barry direct (0790 588 9005). Action All 14. Revisions to the Highway Code Southwark Cyclists’ response to the proposed updated Highway Code will be discussed at the next monthly meeting. Action All 15. Next meeting Wednesday 12 April. Usual time and venue. 16. Depart for The Crown, Blackfriars Road There being no further business the meeting was closed. 4 hartric Y:\Southwark Cyclists\Minutes 0306.doc hartric Y:\Southwark Cyclists\Minutes 0306.doc