Hello fellow cyclist! With Spring springing I hope you’re enjoying getting out on your bike in the fresh air riding for work, shopping or for some exercise but meanwhile, Havering Cyclists have still been campaigning and raising local cycling issues. Please read on for details.
In this month’s newsletter we have:
- Mayor’s Charity Bike Ride
- An update on our Five Asks
- An update on our Bash the Barriers campaign
- Hornchurch Station cycle parking
Mayor’s Charity Bike Ride
Well done to the twenty or so riders who supported the Mayor’s Charity Bike Ride on Sunday, 16 April.
The weather was kind and we had a nice gentle 14-mile ride from the Visitor Centre in Hornchurch Country Park down to the Thames, along to the RSPB Centre and then back. The two charities are PTSD999 and The Mardyke Youth & Community Centre. (Picture credit: Mayor Trevor Mckeever) If anybody would like to find out more and perhaps make a donation, please click here.
Eastern Road Traffic Scheme
You may recall that a scheme had been brought forward to resolve this dangerous and long-standing gap in London Cycle Network route 12 (LCN12) between Havana Close and Eastern Road across South Street. We had been told that this had gone through the consultation phase and was about to be implemented but now the scheme is on hold pending some objections from taxi drivers over the proposed arrangements for the taxi rank. We await further news.
Five Asks Update
We are still seeing some progress on the Five Asks that we campaigned on for the recent local elections.
Improvements on Marsh Way are now budgeted for in the coming period but as previously mentioned, the implementation may be delayed so as to coincide with the delivery of the Beam Park cycle route.
The council has implemented more School Street schemes and plans a further 18 in the coming year.
There is no progress to date on the Dangerous Junctions ask but the council has moved forwards with residential cycle parking and 64 cycle lockers have been provided for tenants and is planning 78 more in the coming year.
Bash the Barriers
Working with our partner organisation Better Streets for Havering we had raised a complaint to the Chief Executive of Havering council regarding the barriers on shared use paths that we regard as discriminatory.
Sadly, this has been rejected and no further action will be taken at this time but we will be pressing the issue further when the long-awaited Walking and Cycling Strategy is developed. We think that ensuring that the strategy rules against having discriminatory barriers will be the best way forward.
Meanwhile we are still challenging such barriers on land owned and controlled by other bodies.
Try Before You Bike Scheme
Havering Council’s Try Before You Bike loan and purchase scheme is now live and has seen its first customers.
Reviews of LCN12 and NCN136
We have reported the list of issues through the council’s reporting tool and seeing no response we have now escalated this to council officers.
Doctor Bike
Thanks to everybody that stopped by our Doctor Bike event yesterday and of course to those that helped. The weather was lovely and we had a very busy day of checking bikes. We aim to do the next event in June.
Cycle Buddies
The new Cycle Buddies platform is now open, replacing the former process. From now on, all abilities are catered for and requests that cross borough boundaries can be handled in the most efficient way. To learn more and to sign up either as a helper or as a “helpee” cyclist, follow this link.
Hornchurch Station Parking
Development funding was made available for cycle parking at Hornchurch Station and picking up on representations made to the council leader by a local cyclist, we have suggested that this be used for providing cycle hangar lockers on the pavement on each side of the station. This is now in hand with council officers. There is also a cycle storage room inside Hornchurch station and we will look towards having this made more useable as a future campaign.
Pothole Patrol
We are at the time of year when the roads are showing signs of wear and the weather and many potholes are appearing.
If you as a cyclist have suffered injury or damage due to any in the borough, please drop us a line with the details and be sure to report it to the council.
Missing Signage
We have had some success in correcting missing signage around the borough.
If you notice any other missing signage, please report it using the council’s online tool and let us know.
Keep in Touch
We are always pleased to hear your views and to see people at our events and campaign meetings so please follow us on social media or sign up to our website notifications for more details. You can contact us through Facebook (Havering Cyclists) or Twitter (@HaveringCyclist) and you can sign up for news updates from our website by completing the subscription box in the right-hand panel.
Best regards,
Terry Hughes Borough Co-ordinator