1. Welcome & Introductions
Julian Dobson (Chair), Anthony Austin, Andy Braben, John Clarke, Stephen Craven, Liz Delap, Chris le Breton, Xoi Lee, Derek Mark, Stuart Parkins, David Senior and Ray Suomi. No apologies had been received.
2.Minutes of Last Meeting.
Approved.
3. Matters Arising.
4. Planning.
Monitoring of foot tunnels
No response received from Jeff Horseman (lifts manager) but the question of opening hours seems to be a matter of dissatisfaction with the staff. The next stage of escalated complaint would be the Scrutiny Committee which is obliged to respond. Specific dates/times of unavailability of service are needed before a formal complaint can be made. The website and next Pedal Power to give Anthony's e-mail for people to report details. Action – Andy/Stuart. The Greenwich Society is aware of the problem and has suggested replacing each lift with a pair of (counterbalanced?) ones.
Old Royal Naval College Path
Path construction is in progress. Greg King of Sustrans is planning an opening ceremony (Chris is our contact with Sustrans as well as the Greenwich Society).
Thames Path
A report is now available on the recent CRM but it is mainly photographs so is too large a document to circulate by e-mail. The study focussed on problem locations such as Westminster Estate (the "missing link"). It is now clear that two industrial riparian landowners oppose the link though neither needs access to the river themselves. Anthony has e-mailed Peter Brook whose reply was vague but political will is needed to overcome the opposition. Perhaps Sustrans should be more involved. Action – Anthony to follow up with Greg King.
Another location was King William Walk (Greenwich town centre) where the proposal is to widen the west side pavement to make room for a cycle track, with a diagonal crossing of the junction with Romney Road, to create a 2-way cycle route between foot tunnel and the park. Councillors on the CRIM seemed keen but might not support it in committee. Action – Chris to discuss with Greenwich Society.
Parking at Marks & Spencer (Dover Road)
Barbara (former GC member) raised the issue; the store manager is said to want guidance. The company's response to a letter in the Westcombe News has suggested the provision was adequate but in fact the new racks are a poor design. The previous cycle stands when it was a Safeway store had been installed c.1989 at the group's suggestion. Action – Chris to write to store manager requesting better stands; the article in the latest London Cyclist is relevant. Action – Anthony to get the store manager's name from Barbara.
Peninsula developments.
Lovell's Wharf and the nearby Victoria DWT (Deep Water Terminal) are facing imminent closure for up to four years with the riverside path diverted. It is accepted the path is not a public right of way (the LCC signed route is inland at this point anyway) but there is an established use by walkers and cyclists which it is worth trying to preserve. The land is believed to be owned by Morden College at present. The developers are likely to claim it is a site security issue. The plans for the site show new cycle access to the river on completion, so why not from the start of the work? A concrete 'tunnel' (covered way) remains at the DWT site from earlier works and this approach (or scaffold as at Angerstein Wharf) to protect cyclists from construction work would be acceptable. The Olympic planning group has said that mitigation is required wherever cycle routes are disrupted by construction work, and the same principle should apply (the path is an access to the O2 Olympic site). Action – Anthony to pursue via Donald Anyiam.
5. Rides
Ray reported on forthcoming day rides and tours; details to appear on the website. He said he would be stepping down as rides co-ordinator at the AGM in June.
6. Events
Mayor's ride – 29 April
The Council has promised that Westminster Estate and the new barriers near Woolwich Ferry will be open for the ride. Chris suggested that police be asked to remove all parked cars from cycle lanes in advance of the ride; it was agreed it was too short notice for this year but the request could be made in future.
Bike week – 16-24 June
It was not worth making the grant application since the decision would not be made until 5 June by which time expenditure would have been incurred and could not be claimed in arrears. The leaflets could be paid for from the training budget but the freebies could not count as training. Action – Stephen to request stationery and other materials from the Bike Week site and upload ride details. Julian still has some stationery from previous years. Action – Stuart to get a price for overprinting Bike Week stationery in time for the Mayor's Ride and to design a layout. Julian has not yet got the maps due to a delivery error but Xoi has some. LCC could supply advice leaflets to be issued Action – Julian. Materials could be stored at the Armada Centre although access to them other than at the monthly meeting could be difficult.
Tour de France – 7-8 July
LCC want to know our Prologue feeder ride start positions, which were agreed as Woolwich Ferry, Charlton Park, Greenwich Park (Blackheath gate) and CSG – the first three to feed to CSG. A leaflet needs to be produced showing these. Ray is still working on a detailed route from CSG to Hyde Park – probably north of the Thames. Timing TBA depending on Prologue start times Action – Julian to find out times and whether we need to notify names or just numbers of riders). Full details need to be agreed at the next monthly meeting then published in May Pedal Power.
7. Pedal Power
The deadline for the next issue was agreed as Friday 13 April with distribution on Tuesday 24th. 350 copies had been inadequate last time, so 500 to be printed next time (approx cost £50). April issue to focus on Bike Week with a mention of Tour de France (full details in the following issue) and also highlight the tunnel closures. The Mayor's ride could be mentioned but is unlikely to attract additional riders at short notice. Action – Derek to organise library distribution by post; Ray to arrange Woolwich Tunnel distribution.
8 Treasurer's report
Approximately £3000 is available in the training budget. Action – Derek to establish exact figure. It was agreed Liz could spend up to £300 of this on Bike Week publicity. Some money had been paid from the main account with the cost to be transferred from the training account.
9. Any Other Business