Present in Google meet:

Karen Miller

Casey Abaraonye (Chair HFCycling)

Peri Abaraonye (Communications & Management)

David Ford (Easy Ride Leader)

John Everard

Henrietta Bewley (Secretary)

Toby Hopkins (Cycle Buddies, Wandsworth LCC)

Low traffic neighbourhoods

John Everard – councils are coming under lots of pressure by motorists to remove LTN & the temporary cycle routes.

Council in talks with Brackenbury residents association and Hammersmith grove.  Council got funding from TFL for 6 cycle routes.  We don’t know which they are.

Casey – in S Fulham the council has cameras installed and working.  The council sends out PCN notices to motorists.  Traffic within the S Fulham LTN has fallen a lot – 90%???.   Non compliance rate started at 60%, now fallen to 30% of traffic – those who get a PCN. Now council looking at west side of Wandsworth road. Next they will look at Wandsworth bridge road itself.

Everywhere in the world  traffic has risen by 120 to 150%

Please write to your councillors to support cycle routes & LTN’s.  Please keep Making the case  for sustainable transport on social media. The council listens to what they hear on social media,  next door, in the newspapers etc.  We believe the silent majority want cleaner air and quieter streets, but to get them we need to be LOUD.

LCC elections & AGM etc

The AGM is on 28th October, and will be virtual.

Members can submit questions in advance.

https://www.lcc.org.uk/pages/agm-and-board-election-2020

3 LCC board members are up for election.

Neil Webster, who is standing for the board this year, has been very helpful to HFCyclists, RBCK LCC, Ealing and Hounslow.

LCC campaigners conference:

https://membership.lcc.org.uk/lcc-campaigners-conference-2020

Also online, Tuesday Oct 20th, Wednesday Oct 21st, Tuesday Oct 27th, 18:30 to 20:30.

Lots of advice, tools, tips, discussions etc.

Campaigner awards

There is still time to nominate people for cycle campaigner awards.   Lots of Categories, for both LCC campaigners and people outside of the LCC, including: Best Campaign Initiative,  Campaigner of the Year,  Streetspace Council of the Year, Best Communication Initiative etc.

Casey is nominating Ken McCosh, for Community Outreach.  He has created a wonderful series of rides.  Once a month,  Ken takes people to places we haven’t been to before, exploring parts of London many didn’t know exist, and also has a wealth of historical information about the places we visit. These bike rides have helped reinvigorate the group and are attracting more and more riders.

Weekly bike Rides

The leisurely shorter rides on Sunday are also helping to give inexperienced and older returning cyclists more confidence. These are very popular for all ages – children to people over 80. Last Sunday we went to China Town to eat cake.

This Sunday – Monthly Leisurely Ride to Greenwich. Goes through some very nice areas and a nice market at the end. Start Pekoe Mellow tea shop in Brackenbury. If too tired to cycle both ways, can go home with the bike on the train.

This ride departs from Pekoe Mellow Tea House, 22 Aldensley Road, Hammersmith W6 0DH at 10am.

We will have a local pick up from Empress State Building, Lillie Road, West Brompton, SW6 1TR at 9.30am. If you wish to join from there please confirm on the WhatsApp group or text 07975612368.

To join this ride please book here 

We are comfortable with two groups of 6, so 12 in total.  We are hoping that the rule of 6 outdoors will continue to be OK for a while.

Cycle buddy scheme with Toby Hopkins.

Pairing experienced riders with inexperienced riders over 18.  One to one.  Our own Peri took Karen on a ride to find a good route for her to cycle with her son to school.  Not the same as bikeability and cycle training which is free from local authorities.

HFCyclists would love to set up cycle buddies. If you would like to volunteer to help a novice rider, please contact cycle buddies LCC.org.uk/cyclebuddies or toby.hopkins@lcc.org.uk.  They are doing the same for K&C.  If there are enough volunteers in H&F, we could have our own group.

Please talk about this with as many people as possible,  and write about it in NextDoor, Covid response groups, parents chat rooms etc, so that the less confident riders get to know about it.

Present:

Perunika Petkova

Casey Aberaonye

David Ford

Petrina Beaufoy HELM

Ken Mc Cosh 

On google meet, which seemed to work ok.

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.

https://www.lcc.org.uk/pages/news

There is vocal, organised opposition to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.  Everyone who has experienced a LTN would not go back to normal traffic levels.  Better air quality, less traffic, better quality of life.

There is one new LTN in S Fulham, on the East side of Wandsworth Bridge road.

At the moment Hammersmith bridge is closed, Vauxhall Bridge and Wandsworth bridge are being repaired so narrowed.

People in Sands End West are complaining that there is more traffic through their area.  We need people in Sands End to call for their own Low Traffic Neighbourhood to stop the extra traffic.  The people who are complaining are a minority (most H&F residents do not have a car), but they are very vocal.  We need the silent majority to become vocal supporters of Low traffic neighbourhoods.  

There is a link in the newsletter, to send an email to the councillors to support LTN.  Please fill in and send the email, and pass it on to as many people as possible.

Casey will circulate to WhatsApp groups and NextDoor.

‘Badvertising’

Leo Murray – member of Possible, W6 families for Safe cycling etc, is running a campaign against the advertising (badvertising) of SUVs.  

https://e-activist.com/page/66459/petition/1

Please sign the petition and circulate.

These cars are 25% more polluting, kill and injure more people, and take up more space. They are popular because of the advertising that sells them as safe for the occupants, but ignores the reduction of safety for other road users.

More information:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2020/08/04/just-how-polluting-is-your-suv-this-new-campaign-might-shock-you/#725ac7232b13

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53607147

Consultation on making the Highway code more cycle friendly

https://www.lcc.org.uk/articles/common-sense-coming-for-the-highway-code

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/K736D5/

Closing date October 27th.

The LCC and other organisations have been successful in lobbying the Department of Transport to update the highway code with lots of cycle and pedestrian friendly changes.  Please participate in the consultation to strongly support the proposals.

School Streets

School Streets

People should be walking, cycling, or scooting to school.  Most car journeys to school are less than half a mile.  These are ideal for switching to sustainable transport.

H&F council are trialling 13 schools. This will involve closure of part of the street outside the school, at drop off and collection times.

Residents and trades people can drive along the road.  

In some boroughs the council workers erect the barriers.  In some the children man the barriers.  It has been very successful where schools have championed the traffic free school streets.

If the parent tries to drive and has to park away from the school, and then leaves their car to walk their child to the school gates, they risk the parking attendants fining their car.  

Ken pointed out that Avonmoor school is on a busy road.  Here it might be possible to:

1. Introduce a 10 mile an hour speed limit
2. Have no stopping or pickup or dropoff.

This would make the road outside the school much safer.

Petrina Beaufoy pointed out that most parents with cars don’t want to put their children on bikes.  David pointed out that in Chelsea school children these days often come home on scooters.

Pollution inside a car is 140% higher than outside the car.  Driving kids half a mile to school is a waste of petrol, creates congestion, makes the roads dangerous for children to cycle, encourages children and parents to be lazy, and contributes to unhealthy lifestyles and killer air pollution.

A car hit children outside a Beatrix potter primary school in Earlesfield.  7 children and 2 parents were hit.  We need to encourage safer streets by stopping using vehicles near school.

Children and parents injured after car mounts pavement outside primary school

Rides:

Sunday rides.  

David, Casey & Ken have started a successful run of Sunday rides for the last 3 weeks from Empress State building North Fulham.  

Some small, short and local, 2 hours, 10 till 2pm.  

Huge success. Very positive response from the participants

2nd ride went to Chiswick Flower market – very busy – 20 minute wait to go in, but very good ride.  Almost entirely off main roads – small roads and long the river – plotted by Ken McCosh.

Peri is doing recci ride for one of the Sunday riders to find a suitable cycle route for her son to go to school.

We propose to run a ride every Sunday with a longer ride once a month.  Maybe an extra sunday when we could have 2 groups, or start a short ride, and then the keen cyclists could carry on?

David said there is a group of cyclists setting off from the design centre by Holland Park every Sunday 10 am  – they have 2 groups, one for a longer ride, and one for a shorter.

There was a discussion about starting our H&F Sunday rides from Brook Green, as being more central to H&F.

World’s Biggest Bike Ride- cycling UK

https://www.cyclinguk.org/pumpedup/wbbr

Saturday 12th September.  Please log on to Facebook and log how many miles you have done.  Aim to be the biggest big ride ever in the world.  Strava app – aiming for a million cycle miles. 

This could be an opportunity to ride the new cycle infrastructure? A critical mass to ride around Hammersmith and Fulham?  Casey will get in touch with Ealing, Hounslow, Better streets K&C, to ask what they are doing. Provisionally will meet on Brook Green, 10am. Near Dunsany Road.

Watch this space!

London to Brighton has been postponed till September 2021.

This Sunday 13th September:

Casey and Peri leading the ride. 10am – 12:00 Empress state building short ride, probably around H&F 

Note: In light of the Saturday ride we will not hold a ride on Sunday 13th.

20th September – long ride

Ken proposing one of 24 miles:  Round ride out west.   Along Grand Union Canal,  Cranford Park, South of Southall, Hounslow Heath, Crane River Park, Cafe Nellor Gardens, Home along river Thames from Twickenham.

Palace to Palace 

https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/support-our-work/events/your-palace-to-palace

The physical Buckingham palace to Windsor Castle 40 miles ride / walk is replaced this year by a virtual ride over 21st -27th September. Create your own cycling or walking challenge!

Like to ride Fulham palace to Windsor castle?  Remember that there is a train to come back from Windsor to Putney if you are too tired to ride back.

27th September Dave next ride – a suggestion to go to Greenwich market – 22 miles.

There was some discussion about starting the rides earlier – if we started at 9am a short ride would be finished at 11.  Petrine would like a Sunday afternoon ride, but everyone else has things to do in the afternoon, and would like to go out if anything earlier on a Sunday morning.

The LCC has increased the regulatory requirements for LCC insured rides.  The rides have to be advertised on the LCC website.  Dave has offered to do the risk assessment .  Casey, Peri, Dave and Ken will have a separate meeting to check the new leading LCC rides rules.  5pm Friday Brompton Cemetery.