Tag: infrastructure

Little Joy for Cycling in the Government’s Spending Review

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Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.JPG

On 12 August 2013, David Cameron joined with Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Jody Cundy to announce a new government ambition to kick-start “a cycling revolution which will remove the barriers for a new generation of cyclists.” On 31 July 2015, the Infrastructure Act was passed, which placed a legal requirement for the Government to produce a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. This is all promising stuff, and so it would be reasonable to expect this commitment to be supported by suitable levels of funding. The Government’s latest Spending Review has just been published, so we thought we’d take a look to see what it has in store for cycling.

Unfortunately, the reality fails to match the previous rhetoric. The headline news is that for areas outside of London, more than £300 million has been allocated to cycling investment between 2015-16 and 2020-21. This includes delivering the existing commitment of £114 million for the Cycle Ambition City scheme. In their report, ‘Get Britain Cycling‘, the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group recommended that the Government create a cycling budget of at least £10 per person per year, increasing to £20. The current allocation of £300 million over 5 years equates to just under £1 per person per year. Even if this were to be on top of local authority spending, it would only equate to around £2 per person per year, which is well below the amount needed to deliver the Government’s commitment to double cycling levels and reduce the number of people killed and injured on the roads.

There is more bad news for cycling later in the Spending Review. The Chancellor indicates that “the government remains concerned about the growth of salary sacrifice arrangements and is considering what action, if any, is necessary. The government will gather further evidence, including from employers, on salary sacrifice arrangements to inform its approach”. The Cycle to Work Scheme is one of the most popular salary sacrifice schemes, where employees can make tax savings of up to 42% of the value of a new bike and safety accessories used for cycling to work. Thousands of cyclists have benefited from the scheme since it was launched and while not all have used their bike to cycle to and from work, the health benefits of using a bike regardless of journey purpose must surely outweigh the tax that is foregone by the Treasury.

This is a disappointing Spending Review for cycling and it means that Spokes will have to fight even harder to secure the funding that is needed to improve cycling infrastructure in West Berkshire.

Mind the Gaps

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A4 Bath Road, Newbury

The Council has recently set up a working group to look at where and how facilities for cyclists can be improved, and we are delighted to report that Spokes has a seat at the table.  This is a fantastic opportunity for us to influence how and where the Council spends their future highways budgets and to make sure that cycling is properly represented in their programmes.

We need your help to identify the gaps in provision for cycling and what new or improved facilities you would like to see, such as:

  • cycle parking
  • cycle routes
  • junction treatments
  • priority over side roads
  • parking restrictions
  • traffic management schemes
  • speed limits
  • surfacing improvements
  • signing and lining enhancements
  • lighting upgrades

We would like to hear from people living and cycling in all parts of West Berkshire from Hungerford to Calcot, Streatley to Brimpton Common, and everywhere in between. The focus will mostly be on encouraging cycling for everyday transport (e.g. journeys to work, school or the shops). However, we are also keen to hear about your suggestions for new or improved facilities for leisure and sports cycling.

You can share your ideas by emailing highways@westberkshirespokes.org or by contacting us via the website.

Space for Cycling

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You may have seen some publicity in the media around the Space for Cycling campaign. This is a joint call to action launched by independent local and regional cycling groups across the UK following a very successful launch by London Cycle Campaign in 2013.

Space for Cycling has a Steering Group formed by the major national cycling organisations and city campaigning groups who have already made a start on their campaigns for elections that are taking place in May 2014.

While West Berkshire Council doesn’t have any elections this year, it is clear that cycling has fallen a long way down the local list of political priorities. The Get Britiain Cycling Report, published last year, recommended a spend of £10 per head on new cycling infrastructure rising to £20 as cycling increases. This is the MINIMUM spend that is required if we are to make cycling mainstream.

If you strip out maintenance dressed up as bridleway improvement schemes, West Berkshire Council is planning to spend just £0.65 per person on cycling facilities this year. This isn’t good enough, so Spokes is encouraging you to go to the Space4Cycling website pledge your support and email your local councillors to ask them to make Space for Cycling. Together we can make a difference!

Spokes campaign success

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Earlier this year, West Berkshire Council asked Spokes for their priorities for cycle schemes and other transport improvements that would deliver benefits for cyclists.

We’re delighted to say that the Council has responded positively on many of these and will even be constructing some of them in the current financial year, including the extension of the Newbury town centre 20mph zone.

Other schemes require further investigation such as:

  • Exempting cyclists from one-way restrictions, e.g. Mansion House Street and Wharf Street.
  • Giving cyclists priority over side roads, e.g. on the Thatcham Northern Distributor Road and on the A4 at B&Q
  • Widening the southern footway of the A4 opposite Martingale Chase and converting it to shared use

However, some of our biggest priorities were knocked back, including:

  • Provision of a cycle route on the A4 between Lower Way and Turnpike Road
  • Improving the canal towpath between Hambridge Road and Thatcham Station.

These are really important links in the cycle route network, so we will keep up the pressure and push for these to be reconsidered.