1. Welcome & Introductions
Anthony Austin (Chair), Chris le Breton, Stephen Craven, Sarah Ellis, John Hearns, Xoi Lee, Derek Mark, Stuart Parkins, David Senior.
Apologies from Andy Braben, John Clarke, Liz Delap and Julian Dobson,.
2. Minutes of Last Meeting.
Approved (prop. Chris, sec. Derek)
3. Matters Arising
Greenwich Park
A vigil had been held on 26 July, and featured in the Greenwich Mercury and News Shopper. The bike was still present, chained to the fence, and it was agreed to leave it there. Anthony's letter to Nick Raynsford MP had been acknowledged but no reply received. Anthony had also met Derek Spur, park manager, who was sympathetic to the cause but had to remain disinterested. (For further discussion see item 4b).
4. Planning Issues
a) Westminster Estate.
Anthony had written to Cllr Peter Brooks, who had advised him to arrange a meeting with Cllr Singh. Action – Anthony to follow this lead. Chris and David to attend any meeting if possible, which should also ask what is happening about town centre cycle racks and the Royal Naval College path. Liz had drafted a letter as previously agreed, but needs to refer to the UDP (Unitary Development Plan) where the link is mentioned. Action – Chris to find this reference from Jane at the Council. It was agreed that pressure should be put on Transport for London to get involved.
b) Greenwich Park Speed Limit.
It was agreed that further letters should be written to politicians, including the MP for Bromley where the victim lived (Action – Derek to ask John Clarke who lives in that constituency to write that letter). Other recipients could include David Cameron, Ruth Kelly (transport minister), the transport spokespersons for the other parties, MPs for other parts of Greenwich Borough, and Len Duval (Greenwich representative on the GLA). Action – Anthony & Stephen to write these letters. We could also seek to meet MPs at their surgeries for added impact. Direct action should be a last resort if lobbying fails to achieve anything.
It was suggested that a survey be carried out of numbers of cyclists and car drivers using the park (perhaps split into single/multi-occupancy vehicles) but no date was arranged.
c) Foot tunnels. Chris reported that a cyclist "scooting" northwards in the Greenwich tunnel on 26 July had injured two pedestrians (one of them a Pedal Power reader). The police were aware of the cyclist's identity. Lift operators were reluctant to intervene due to past abuse. It was reported that the tunnel operators were looking at the possibility of reinstating an earlier system of separating northbound and southbound flows with a barrier, and/or installing rumble strips to deter cycling, but there was no suggestion yet of banning cycles from being walked through. Geoff Horsman (lift manager) had wanted complaints about cyclists publishing in Pedal Power by way of a reply to previous criticism of the operators. Action – Anthony to follow this up. Apart from that, it was agreed that Greenwich Cyclists as a group should not get involved since we already support the existing no-cycling rule, and enforcement is a matter for the Council and TfL.
5. Tour de France feedback
Anthony thanked all those who were involved in planning and leading the ride on 7 July, which had been a great success, with over 120 riders starting from Greenwich and over 200 in the city centre by the time other groups had joined us. Marshalling worked well; there was only one incident involving an unsympathetic bus driver. John noted that British Cycling offer training for marshals which might be useful for future events. Action – John to get details.
6 Forthcoming events
a) Car-free day – September.
This item referred to an e-mail forwarded by Julian from an organisation seeking support for unofficially closing roads in central London to motorised traffic for a day (date not yet confirmed). It was agreed not to get involved.
b) Hovis Freewheel – 23 September
Chris reported that he had registered for the event. LCC would lead rides from designated points into the central zone of closed roads. The nearest LCC start point is Peckham Rye, but it was agreed in view of the response to the Tour de France to request an additional Greenwich start point. Action – Julian/Anthony. It was possible that Greenwich Council would arrange a car-free day in the town centre on the same date, and in the past we had been asked to run a Dr Bike, but it was agreed this time to give priority to supporting the Freewheel event.
7 Pedal Power
There was insufficient material for an August edition; the next issue would be mid-September which could include details of the Freewheel and feedback from Wild Wales. Stuart asked for photographs to be sent as high-resolution JPEGs if possible.
8 Any Other Business
North Greenwich station. Chris had investigated what was happening with cycle facilities. TfL had surveyed the site with a view to improving parking facilities. It had previously been suggested that something like the bike facilities at Finsbury Park could be replicated at North Greenwich. Action – Stephen to find details.
Marks & Spencer site (Old Dover Road). Xoi suggested that store management should crack down on 'bad' parkers. It was noted that the management had not yet acted to reinstate the removed cycle racks. Action – Chris to discuss with Barbara Henley who was also campaigning on the issue.