1. Welcome & Introductions
17 attended
2. Notes of February meeting and matters arising from Febraury Meeting
February notes were agreed
3. Mayors Ride
Maureen Johnson came to talk to us about the Mayors Ride which will take place on Sunday 25th April at 11:00. Registration will start from 09:30. Greenwich Cyclists are being asked to be at the start, be marshalling at various points along the route and being sweepers at the back. Signposting needs to be placed between Greenwich and The Dome as the route is tricky to follow on this stretch. GC will also have a stall at Erith.
Maureen informed the group that she still needs arrange the following:
4. Greenwich School Travel Plans
Joyce Simmonds and Raj Shuklawere invited to address the group. They areCycle Training and Area Safety Officers who were trained by York cyclists. They carry out on-road training during Easter and summer holidays, sometimes during term time for ages 10+ with four half day sessions. They have also tried after school sessions and included a special needs school.
They select schools, then work with teachers, parents and governors at the school and get an action plan discussed. There is no set agenda. They try to address the problems of parking around schools at start/finish times and have created some successful walking buses that have been going for over a year, which has not happened in any other London borough.
Safer routes are discussed in the curriculum. Last year 430 children were trained for safety awareness out of 20,000 youngsters living in Greenwich borough.
The schools which have been approached are all volunteer schools and Greenwich Cyclists have been asked to volunteer and help train children to cycle and cycle safely. Most of the work will be during the day time, but sometimes sessions are carried out on Saturday mornings.
The project was launched in September under a "cycling can be cool" banner for both year eight and GCSE students and included Dr Bike sessions.
Initally it was planned to train a whole year group but after speaking to Cycle Training the group realised that it would be more effective to provide quality training to a few pupils rather than just one or two token lessons to a few pupils. The schools had pilot funding from DoT. GEMS have been commissioned to look at the impact of the training. 60 pupils have been trained to date and it should be 120 by the end of the year. This has included Dr Bike sessions, but the kids have not been so keen on these. Easy going rides via Eltham Green School have not been that successful either but this was largely because kids had to be accompanied and didn't want to be out with their parents at weekends. Some parents also couldn't cycle. Funding for bike racks has been successful though. Generally the kids have been enthusiastic, but getting consent forms from parents has been problematic. There has been troublesome debate about cycle helmets with helmets fitting the kids properly being difficult to accomplish.
GC have a grant of £9250 for a second schools project but this time the subgroup are looking at working with a primary school. Once again the project will have to be evaluated. It was agreed that this time we would need to make sure that the schools are keen to be involved with the project and have staff that have the enthusiasm for it.
5. Pedal Power
Pedal power is on the website.
Steve to photocopy and distribute.
Volunteers wanted for distribution next Tuesday morning to join Hilary, Liz, Jason, Andy and Julian.
6. Planning
The meeting last Thursday was cancelled.
Hilary, Liz and Nick met David Moorhouse to discuss the GREENWICH LOCAL IMPLEMETATION PLAN - CYCLE POLICIES.
There was lots of commitment but little happening other than their website. The council have spent less than 50% stated on LCN paperwork. The Thames Path should be completed around the Westminster Estate but some property owners will not allow a slight loss of land for a riverside path, although most agree to it.
There is a danger of a 70% underspend next year. All the money allocated is routed via Camden Council for cycling, walking and safer routes to schools. There is no review or auditing of roads, no cycling reviews, and they are not liaising with Greenwich Cyclists. This is why we have ended up with the Maze Hill scheme that nobody wants.
Co-ordinated plans must be made for the future. The council should look at all budgets, not just TfL budgets. Missing links in the Thames Path and other disjointed routes should be consolidated.
Thanks was given to Nick for his Thames Gateway Response form. There were no responses from other individuals.
7. Spring into Action
Hilary and Jason had met with the health co-ordinator from the Primary Healthcare Trust. She will send a letter and posters to doctors surgeries on our behalf Another meeting with her is planned for Monday 15 March. It was agreed that if we do another mailing adatabase for printing labels should be available.
Barry will do a Locks Docks and one smoking ferry ride.
There will be afterworkers on Wednesdays (has been commented that it will be dark)
There will be Saturday rides and more volunteers are required to lead these.
Publicity for April to Mid May should be passed to Jason by Friday 12th March
8. Bike Week
Meeting to be arranged by Jason at West Greenwich Arts Centre for a sub-group for all interested people.
On Sunday 13th June there will be a trip to the Herne Hill velodrome, and then to Trafalgar Square for the bike fest.
Wednesday 16th June the Tate Modern opens early for breakfast for all cyclists at 08:00. This finishes promptly at 09:30.
9. AOB
Karen requires more people to book the Bala weekend by 31st March. All information and FAQ is on the website.
10. Pub opposite