1. Welcome & Introductions.
Julian Dobson (Chair), Lydian Meredith, Stephen Craven, Anthony Austin, Ray Suomi, Derek Mark, John Clarke. Apologies from Maria Robinson, Andy Braben.
2. Minutes for May 2006 approved.
Sections 1 to 6 of the last minutes were accepted with a correction of Chris Warrall's surname and clarification of speakers (proposed Julian, seconded Ray). Section 8 constituted the AGM and should be approved at next year's AGM.
The correct procedure was agreed as follows: the Secretary to circulate draft minutes by email in time for comments to be received before the following meeting; the final version following approval at the meeting to be posted on the website; action points to be noted separately.
3 Bike Week feedback.
This item to be included on the agenda next time as not all ride organisers were present.
The ride to the barbecue had only attracted a few people. Although turnout was otherwise good, several key people had been away and there had not been as much publicity as in recent years resulting in not many new faces. Cycle training and Dr Bike had been successful. It was agreed that a coordinator for Bike Week 2007 should be appointed in January to ensure adequate advance planning with clear aims and objectives. If a draft plan could be agreed by December it would give the coordinator something to work from. Julian to email these points to the group and invite feedback from anyone.
Lydian recalled organising a Bike Week in Australia and wondered if funding would be available. Other ideas were events in Greenwich Park, holding the Mayor's ride as part of Bike Week, and a car free day in Bike Week (in addition to "In town without my car day" on 22 September).
Publicity information was still stored at the Tourist Information Centre.
ACTION: Anthony to collect it
4 Rides.
The new rides schedule is on the website. Afterworkers are being organised by Ray on Tuesdays and by Barry on Thursdays. Reminders by email are needed to get people along on these. It was agreed that 6.30 is a better start time than 6.00 for most people.
ACTION: Barry/Ray to email Yahoogroups with ride details.
Themed rides seem to attract more people than those without a specific theme. The possibility was mentioned of weekend rides with an overnight stay, for example to the Suffolk coast. Anthony offered to organise another blackberry ride this year. Family rides were mentioned again but it was thought best to leave it to families to organise them.
ACTION: Anthony to organise blackberry ride.
5 Planning
a. Royal Naval College
Anthony and David Senior are due to meet Duncan Wilkinson of the Greenwich Foundation on the RNC on 10 July. The principle had been accepted of allowing cyclists through on the perimeter route; Greenwich Borough are supposed to pay but Donald Anyiam is apparently unable to deliver the budget. Sustrans is supposed to be mediating between the Greenwich Foundation and the Borough on funding. Anthony had asked for the trustees names but will not contact them directly for now.
There was disagreement whether the perimeter route is a sufficient concession or whether we should press for a direct route across the site. 36 new cycle stands had been provided at the east end of the site (in addition to those by the TIC) but it was not clear whether these were for tourists or just for students; in any event they were too far from the town centre to be counted as part of the town centre provision.
ACTION: Anthony to raise this point at the meeting with the Greenwich Foundation on 10th July.
b. SPAH
Sports, Physical Action and Health is a Greenwich Borough initiative that includes promotion of cycling as a healthy activity. A meeting had been called on 12 July; Anthony was unavailable but Lydian could attend. Derek wondered whether the cost of printing Pedal Power (approx. £50 per month) could attract sponsorship through SPAH.
ACTION Lydian to attend SPAH meeting on 12 July.
c. CRIM
A Cycle Route Inspection Meeting was planned for 9.15 on 23 August for Link 60 (Grove Park to Bexley via New Eltham). It would be good if someone could represent the group but not essential as the route only crosses the far end of the borough. Julian had been invited to another CRIM (Details to follow).
Anthony said that a CRIM for the Thames Path was to be held, date to be confirmed. It was agreed that it would be important for GC to be involved in it. Barry had suggested a pre-ride to gather ideas prior to the CRIM. Ray agreed to co-ordinate with Barry and lead it as a themed ride. Anthony to give Ray the details. Derek observed that the law had changed so that local authorities were obliged to consult on cycle routes. It was noted that the Mayor of London had not committed to keeping the Thames Path round the O2 Dome open during the Olympics. Derek said that the Thames Path should be promoted on our website as not everyone knew it existed. Julian to follow up with Andy.
d. Greenwich Park
Julian reported that an individual (not a GC member) was campaigning for an east-west route at the bottom of the park. It is however a Royal Park and therefore the Borough is not responsible. It was agreed that it was not an important issue compared to the others and we should not spend time on it.
6 Training.
Maria had trained six people so far, who all wanted further training. It was agreed to send a gift to Maria in hospital (Lydian has already sent a card). Some wards do not allow flowers so a book was suggested.
ACTION: Lydian.
7 Pedal Power.
Lydian reported that the main problem would be funding printing costs once Maria was no longer able to get it done for free. The LCC said that a subsidy from TfL is possible, via the Borough. A colour edition was possible if funding was available; it would cost about 14p per copy compared with 10p monochrome. Lydian could print small runs (up to 100) on her laser printer. It might be possible to use funds from the rarely tapped "tools" budget in the short term, but a long term source of funding is required.
There had only been one response to her consultation on bike shops, which was a positive recommendation for Harry Perry in Woolwich. Others suggested at the meeting were The Bike Shop in Eltham, the Cycle Warehouse in Greenwich and Halfords at Charlton. Pedal Power could be promoted in these places, especially Halfords.
Two bikes had been donated for training purposes by someone who had picked up a copy of Pedal Power in a library.
Chris le Breton had offered to do some publicity.
Lydian offered to develop the format with a PDF version of more than two pages and hyperlinks, as well as a traditional two-page printed version. A booklet version was suggested but would require sponsorship.
8 Maintenance Classes.
Julian had not advertised the July classes although he had booked the Armada centre for two dates. He could run them if enough people showed interest.
9 LCC report and correspondence.
Stephen had attended the Extraordinary General Meeting of LCC which had voted by 129 to 1 (including postal votes) to convert to charitable status. Correspondence had been received concerning bus routes (reply from TfL), the Tour de France and Car Free Day (now called "In Town Without My Car Day"). A coordinator was needed for the latter.
10 Any Other Business
Lydian suggested adopting Southwark Cyclists idea of a single "info" e-mail address which all Committee members can access. One benefit would be preventing individuals addresses being collected by spyware that can pick them from PDF files. She also suggested "achievements" and "policy" sections of the website. Julian suggested a small group should discuss these ideas and added that we need better photos on the website.
Derek raised the issue of the legal implications of having photos of children on the website. Ideally there should be parental consent, but there should not be problems if there are no names given and the images are not sold. It would help promote the groups as family friendly.