Category: Third Party Activities

World Car Free Day (22 September)

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West Berkshire Spokes is supporting World Car Free Day on 22 September by encouraging local residents to swap their car journeys for more sustainable alternatives such as cycling, walking and public transport.

Given the climate emergency that we are facing, it is vital that we all play our part in reducing our carbon footprint and working towards becoming carbon neutral. Transport is currently the largest contributor to UK greenhouse gas emissions, with road transport alone accounting for almost a quarter of our total emissions.

We know it’s not easy making changes, so we suggest starting with just one journey and taking it from there. Amazingly, 68% of all the journeys we make are under 5 miles, so whether it is going to the shops, visiting friends, doing the school run or the dreaded commute, most of us can find at least one journey where we could leave the car at home and travel differently.

You can find information on your local cycling and walking routes on the West Berkshire Council website, or why not make use of an online journey planner such as Cycle Streets or Cycle Travel. Alternatively, there are loads of apps to help you such as Komoot and Cyclemaps. There are loads of routes that are traffic-free or that make use of quiet roads.

We’d love you to send us some piccies of you out on your bike tomorrow – just connect on Facebook or Twitter #WorldCarFreeDay.

Newbury Town Centre Vision Consultation

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A consultation is currently underway on the draft Vision for Newbury Town Centre. West Berkshire Council has engaged Hemingway Design to help develop the vision and manage the consultation, which will run until 16 July.

The vision has been informed by a previous public engagement exercise, which ran from December 2020 to January 2021 and attracted over 4,000 responses. The results from this latest consultation will be used to inform the preparation of the spatial vision and masterplan, with a draft report expected at the end of August.

This will then form the basis of the Newbury Town Centre Vision Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). This in turn will be subject to a formal consultation in the autumn prior to adoption later in the year. Once adopted, it will set the formal planning framework for the future regeneration and development of the town centre.

The Vision includes many elements that you would expect. addressing concerns about the retail and leisure offers within the town centre, improving Market Place and Northbrook Street, and making better use of the canal. It is good to see that the vision recognises what other studies have shown, which is that people who live close to the town centre and walk and cycle there, visit more frequently and spend more money.

Improving access for walking and cycling trips is identified as an aspiration within the Vision, but it is recognised that these options will not be viable for all and there will still be a need to accommodate travel by car in future, which is reasonable.

The need to improve access to parks and open spaces is recognised, particularly Victoria Park, as well as improving access to and between these areas by walking and cycling. Signage within the town centre currently focuses on walking trips, with cycling barely featuring on any of the signs and monoliths.

Some questions do remain in relation to proposals set out in the Vision document, such as how future usage of the towpath will be managed if flows of pedestrians and cyclists increase. The towpath forms part of National Cycle Route 4 and is a key route for through-trips as well as those with the town centre as its destination.

There is also a proposal for a new pedestrian bridge between Bridge Street and Parkway, but it is not clear if this will be open to cyclists.

The Vision indicates a desire to make better use of the alleys off Northbrook Street – again it is worth noting that NCN4 makes use of Northcroft Lane, which although narrow, currently has few shops and is relatively lightly used by pedestrians.

Finally, there are proposals to allocate more space to pavement cafes and landscaping in Northbrook Street. However, this will inevitably restrict the space available for movement, and it would be good to understand how this space will be managed in order to minimise conflict between pedestrians and cyclists. As with the towpath, it should be recognised that Northbrook Street is a key route for cycle trips through as well as to the town centre.

SPOKES would encourage anyone who cycles to and through the town centre to have their say and ensure that the needs of cyclists are properly taken into account.

Cycle Hub Opens at Newbury Station

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A new cycle hub has recently opened on the south side of Newbury Station with 180 spaces provided in two-tier racks and a further 50 spaces provided via Sheffield stands outside. The cycle hub is fitted with multiple CCTV cameras and motion-sensor LED lighting. It also comes equipped with a pump and bike repair stand with tools attached.

A second cycle hub is proposed on the north side of the station. Opening later this year, it will provide an additional 176 spaces. Together, they will increase cycle parking for passengers by over 300 spaces.

The £1.2 million facilities are funded with support from the Department for Transport and the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

The hubs are welcome additions at the station. Previously, cycle parking on the south side was confined to a handful of stands, open to the elements in the corner of the car park. These were always full, requiring many cyclists to chain their bikes to the railings. Conditions on the north side were better, with Sheffield stands under cover on the platform alongside a handful of lockers.

The new cycle hubs provide secure and attractive parking facilities for cyclists, and combined with the filtered permeability scheme on the one-way section of Station Road, they should hopefully encourage more people to cycle and from the station as Covid restrictions are relaxed and things return to normal.

Have Your Say on the LCWIP and Active Travel Schemes

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West Berkshire Council has launched a series of consultations on their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) and various Active Travel Schemes.

These proposals set out ambitious plans to improve conditions for walking and cycling journeys across the district to help make these modes of transport the default choices for local journeys.

As such, we would encourage everyone to take a look and have their say to ensure that we get the schemes right first time and address any concerns / issues at the outset.

LCWIP

The LCWIP provides a new, strategic and long-term approach to developing cycling and walking improvements, in line with the government’s Gear Change Strategy.

The Council has worked in partnership with SPOKES and other local stakeholders to identify priorities for cycling and walking infrastructure.

This first version of the LCWIP focuses on routes in Newbury and Thatcham. Eastern area settlements, such as Calcot, Pangbourne, Purley-on-Thames and Theale, have already been covered in the Reading LCWIP , which was prepared jointly with Reading Borough Council and Wokingham Borough Council, and adopted in 2019.

The LCWIP focuses on the main urban areas, which have the highest existing demand, and greatest future potential for increasing cycling and walking trips. However, the intention is for it to be a live document that can be expanded to include new developments, and journeys in and between more rural settlements.

The LCWIP process has a particular emphasis on utility journeys, such as commuting to work, and accessing education, healthcare or shops, but it also identifies leisure corridors to be developed. These were informed by public feedback from previous council consultations, and stakeholder comments.

A4 Proposals

The LCWIP has identified the A4 as a key active travel route for east-west journeys. The long-term ambition is to improve the whole A4 corridor, but the intention is to do this in sections and the Council is currently consulting on proposals for two key sections.

Crown Mead, Thatcham:

  • Features kerb separated tracks on both sides of the A4.
  • Removes the staggered pedestrian crossing island, which is currently a pinch point for cyclists, and replaces it with a single stream crossing.
  • Installs raised entry treatments in side roads to slow down vehicles when turning.
  • Reconfigures the layout of the bus stops to separate the cycleway from the footway and carriageway.

Western Avenue, Newbury:

  • Reduces the width of the carriageway to provide space for segregated cycle tracks.
  • Provides separate routes for pedestrians and cyclists.
  • Widens the crossing islands to cater for dual usage.
  • Replaces the staggered crossing with a single stream crossing and remove the staggered crossing island.
  • Gives pedestrians and cyclists priority over side roads via raised road humps and parallel zebra and cycle crossings.

Active Streets

This has a number of components including:

Parking restrictions to improve active travel routes:

  • Kiln Road / Turnpike Road, Newbury
  • A343 Andover Road, Newbury
  • A4 London Road, Newbury
  • A4 Bath Road, Calcot
  • Lower Way, Thatcham
  • A4 Benham Hill, Thatcham

Lawrences Lane, Thatcham:

  • Closes the route to through traffic
  • Creates a quiet route for recreational access to the countryside

Deadman’s Lane, Theale:

  • Stops motor vehicle access
  • Creates a quiet route for recreational access to the countryside

Active Travel Heat Map:

  • Provides a tool for you to identify locations in your neighbourhood where you would like to create more accessible streets, including better public spaces, secure cycle parking and high quality environments suitable for cycling and walking.

Calcot School Streets:

  • Proposals for Royal Avenue and Curtis Road.
  • Restricts motor vehicle access Monday to Friday during school term-time only to coincide with school pick-up and drop-off times.
  • Creates pedestrian and cyclist zones around schools.

Q&A with a Sustrans Ranger

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SPOKES Secretary Clive Tombs is also a local Sustrans Volunteer Ranger – part of a network of wonderful people who give up their time on a regular basis to help look after the National Cycle Network. He kindly agreed to answer a few questions to provide us with some insights about his role.

So what is a Sustrans Ranger?
Sustrans’ Volunteer Rangers get actively involved in maintaining sections of the National Cycle Network (NCN).  It’s great to get out in the fresh air and to do something positive to maintain and improve paths that get used by people on a daily basis to get to work or college, pop to the shops, or just for leisure.

What section of the NCN do you look after?
The local Ranger team looks after the section of NCN Route 4 from Bedwyn through Newbury and Thatcham, to where we meet the Reading group’s section at Woolhampton canal bridge. It’s quite a long stretch! 

What sort of things do you typically do?
Our main activities are: cycling (or walking) the route section/s to carry out checks; cutting back vegetation that is encroaching on the NCN routes; cleaning, checking and where appropriate replacing signs; and reporting issues to partner organisations such as the Canal & River Trust. 

What is the time commitment for a Ranger?
It’s really as much time as you can give, but the guideline is 3 to 4 hours a month.

Are there other Rangers that help you?
At the moment there’s only a couple of active volunteers, so it would be great to have a few more to help out with maintenance and keeping the route in good shape.  It’s great being able to have a coffee and a chat part way through the day, as well as doing something positive and practical!   Helen, the Sustrans’ regional volunteer co-ordinator, is based in Reading and comes to join us too.

What happens when you find something that you can’t fix?
That depends on what it is and where it is!  If it’s an issue with the condition of the towpath, it gets reported to the Canal & River Trust.  If it’s something on the public roads, it gets reported to West Berkshire Council via their website. We have offered Canal & River Trust the opportunity of some joint work, under their risk assessment, but that offer is yet to be taken up.

If someone is interested in becoming a Ranger, how do they go about it?
Visit the ‘Volunteer with Sustrans’ webpage: sustrans.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer. This will give you more of a flavour of what the large group of volunteers across the country does to maintain the vast network of NCN routes. Alternatively, you can talk to our local volunteer coordinator about the role:

Helen Fisher
Volunteer Coordinator | England South
RISC | 35-39 London Street | Reading | RG1 4PS
07500 833 152 | 0118 958 1712 | @Volcosoutheast