Readout of meeting of 29 July 2019

We started with an evening ride from Forest Gate around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. We saw the newly opened section of the Greenway before moving on to Crate for refreshment and a short discussion.

  • Michale Barratt, TfL’s Development Impact Manager, told us he was having discussions with Newham Council’s Network Management team and we agreed to maintain contact (whilst being wary that this department had a done little in the past to promote cycling in Newham). This initiate should benefit pedestrians , site workers, the less able as well as those that cycle.
  • The disappointing backtracking by Newham Council in respect of theBrowning Road bridge (see previous post). This issue gives greater urgency to our efforts to link with other like minded groups promoting a better environment and better neighbourhoods for Newham.
  • We will give feedback to LCC that scheduling the Freecycle in August made it difficult for us to provide marshals for the feeder ride.
  • We discussed forthcoming events on 22 September (Car Free Day) and 5 October (Bike from Boleyn).
  • We will seek discussions with Newham Council over the defective scheme for the junction of Greengate St and Barking Road.
  • We noted that staff at the Financial Conduct Authority found parking in Startford so cheap compared with Canary Wharf that commuting by car had increased.
  • We discussed the possibilities of hiring and/or hiring out a cargo bike.

Our next meeting will be 30 September – details to be confirmed.

Arnold

AAA Ride 27 July 2019

Despite rain the children of the saturday cycle club run by hte charity Ambition, Aspire, Achieve, were keen togo out for a ride. They (and we) were rewarded by the rain stopping. We used the Greenway, including the newly opened section north of Stratford High Street, and the Olympic Park for an enjoyable (mostly off-road) ride.

We will be looking at running another round of fixing /ride on consecutive Saturdays in the autumn.

Arnold

TfL Cycle Parking Strategy

This strategy has just been published. For some local flavour:

  • a map on page 10 shows that Newham’s on-street parking mirrors outer London rather than inner London;
  • a map on page 13 shows the routes in Newham with a top 5% potential for cycling (as first revealed in TfL’s Strategic Cycling Analysis of June 2017);
  • a map on p 14 shows a strong demand for additional on-street parking in the Beckton area;
  • a map on p 24 shows Forest Gate, Canning Town and East Ham as Town Centres with high demand for cycle parking;
  • page 30 ff provides evidence that cycle parking (over car parking) benefits Town Centres;
  • a map onn p 33 shows the location of cycle hangers over London. Newham has a relatively low provision for hte density of its population.

Arnold

Rainham Ride Report and latest news

14 July was the new summer date for our traditional 25 mile ,off road (mostly) saunter to Rainham Marshes and Upminister. The weather was no better than on our previous September/October rides – but we escaped any rain (but suffered one puncture)..

The route was as interesting as ever.

  • We saw some frantic working on the northern section of the Greeway in preparation for its opeing the following day after being closed for more than a decade.
  • There are signs of the massive development of Barking Riverside.
  • We had a short stop in Rainhm Hall – the subject of an interesting blog by Diamond Geezer on 18 July.

The following Saturday we did some bike fixing at the AAA Fun Day. The all-ability bikes are particularly vulnerable to malfunction and present a challenge to repair. Nevertheless we ensured that a couple more would be available.

Other news:

  • Our next AAA ride is this Saturday 27 July leaving 10.30 from the Arc – see rides.
  • We have submitted strong support for the 5 pilot School Streets. These are all relatively easy to implement. We have suggested extending the scope in some cases and commented that they should be a stepping stone to proper Liveable Neighbourhood schemes.
  • There is an important current consultation on the “Greater Carpenters Neighbourhood Plan” – an area important for cycling and walking connections to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The plans look – typically for the LLDC – deficient.
  • There is a current consultation on closing the bridge at Browning Rd to through traffic to lessen rat running in Manor Park.
  • We looked with TfL and Newham Council at the the Romford Rd corridor.
  • The consultants for the developers of the MSG Square have contacted us after our objection to their seriously deficiant plans after our objection had been lodged. However they have not yet been able to indicate that they would contemplate changing them (and they are likely to be supported by the LLDC Planning team); nor have they shown any interest in a site visit to look again at the cycling angle.
  • We understand and hope that Newham Council are looking again at their original (poor) proposals for the Greengate St/Barking Rd junction.
  • Our next meeting is 29 July – an short evening ride followed by a chance for some informal discussion – see events.
  • LCC are holding a social at at 6:00PM in Look Mum No Hands (49 Old St, London EC1V 9HX).  All are welcome.
  • Steve has devised an exciting new route for our feeder to the Freecycle on 3 August. More marshals would be greatly approciated for this event which is both fun and important in promoting cycling.
  • I will be leading a feeder ride to a cycle fun event in Greenwich Park on 17 August – see rides.

Arnold

Forest Gate Festival 6 July 2019

A long and successful day at the Forest Gate Festival. A wide rota of us spend all day fixing and talking bikes. This in addition to Dr Bike who was operating next door. We recycled a number of bikes and bits of equipment that had been donated to us for this purpose and received just over £150 in donations.

Newham Ride 16 June 2019

Four stalwarts braved early showers for the latest variation of our traditional Newham Ride. This time we took in the excellent parks on Newham Thameside, including Royal Victoria Gardens, Thames Barrier Park and – for the first time- Lyle Park. They all looked lush, and the last was a surprising delight in an unpromising area of new development and traditional industrial sites.

The gates of Harland and Wolff, which originally adorned the entrance to this comany’s site on Woolwich Manor Way.

With this inspiration we resolved to work out a Newham Parks Ride for next year.

Arnold

Councillor Ride 9 June 2019

We supported a ride, instigated by Councillor Blaney and Richard, for Newham Councillors to see the Mini-Holland developments in neighbouring Waltham Forest.

There was a good turnout of about 10 Councillors including the Mayor and the relevant cabinet members. We are grateful to Waltham Forest campaigner Paul Gasson for leading the ride and providing technical input; and especially Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader of Waltham Forest Council who spoke from the political angle and answered a raft of questions.

The objective of the ride was to demonstrate on the ground the broad range of community and health benefits that quality cycle provision brings; and in particular how Liveable Neighbourhoods can be implemented. Newham has succeeded in securing TfL funding for a Liveable Neighbourhood in Custom House and has developed progressive plans for one on the borders with Waltham Forest.

As a bonus the weather was excellent.

Along the journey we stopped at the Leyton Cycle Hub;

and Francis Rd.

We cycled a section of the transformed Lea Bridge Rd;

and experienced neighbourhoods which are filtered to exclude through traffic and provide pocket parks.

After a well deserved coffee break in central Walthamstow , we all returned to Newham on an off-road route through the Wathamstow and Hackney Marshes, and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

A very pleasant and sociable ride which we hope and believe will help promote the development of quality cycle provision in Newham.

For a full range of photos taken by Robin see: https://www.flickr.com/gp/rsstephenson/UUF75Q

Arnold

Readout from Meeting of 28 May 2019

15 of us congregated in the Forest Lane Lodge despite a change in our usual date and time. Councillor Blaney sent his apologies with an update of his current activities to promote cycling in the borough.

Below is a summary of the meeting. If you would like to know more please do not hesitate to get in touch.

  • We discussed and made further arrangements for a Councillor Ride on 9 June. This will be an important event.
  • Michael Barratt, TfL’s Development Impact Assessment Manager, who has being working closely with us for some period, updated us on his recent activities with the Newham Council Traffic management team and the London Legacy Development Corporation who still retain wide powers (including planning) over the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and beyond. He suggested useful training that was available and how we can continue to minimise the adverse impact on cycling of major developments.
  • Stratford Original, the business improvement organisation is having its Stratford Town Centre Improvement launch event on 13 June from 4pm to 7pm; and is planning further events on 11 July and 22 September (World Car Free Day)
  • We will be having our “Fix Your Ride” (with add ons) at the Forest Gate Festival on 6 July.
  • Jonathan outlined the current enormous “Maddison Square Garden Sphere” development between Westfield and Angel Lane (see below for link to the application). He noted a derisory estimate by the planners of 20-30 cyclists going to events attracting 20,000 plus (amongst other questionable estimates) and the need for there to be better infrastructure proposals. A response to this application is due by the end of June
  • We agreed to support Jonathan with a QEOP subgroup to which other stakeholders and partner borough groups could be invited.
  • We looked at developments to restrict rat running in the Manor Park area – both east and west of High Street North (see below). The east section was a natural “Liveable Neighbourhood” and further information was needed on steps proposed to create this. The west section presented greater difficulties. However it appears to be acknowledged by the Council that its recent changes to the one way directions had not been successful. To end rat running will need further steps more akin to creation of a Liveable Neighbourhood; but it may be necessary to start with a limited area.
  • Having been contacted by an organisation called Iceni, which is promoting a walking and cycling bridge adjacent to the Thames Barrier. The group approved the idea in principle and will write pointing out that the Newham Ride is an ideal opportunity to put that proposal into context.
  • We discussed a response to a request from Newham Council to comment on the rebranding of Cycleways. We recalled our decision to object to signposting QW6 until it was of adequate quality. The consensus was that branded cycleways should be of sufficient quality (70% or more on the “Cycle Level of Service” scale) and continuous.
  • We had an early discussion on the prospect of greater funding from Newham Council.

Arnold

Infrastructure News

There are four major issues at present. If you are interested in knowing more about any of these please contact us.

  • The “Madison Square Garden Sphere” between Westfield and Angel Lane: A planning application has been lodged which gives rise on initial examination to some serious concerns. We are going to examine it more carefully with other interested stakeholders and LCC HQ with a view to lodging objections by the end of June deadline. The full application is available here
  • The Freemasons Rd Liveable Neighbourhood potentially covers a wide area and has potential to deliver huge benefits for walking and cycling , particularly when linked to other schemes covering the Royal Docks. The Council are going into detailed design stage and we hope to contribute to this. The area of the scheme is set out in this map.
  • Newham Council are consulting residents in Manor Park west of High Street North on how to counter the large scale rat-running. The recent changes to the direction of one way flows so not appear to have solved the problem as this document showing traffic flows indicates.
  • Newham Council have consulted on how to counter rat running in Manor Park to the east of High Street North. We are awaiting further information on the solution.

    We will be pressing for high quality schemes that make these areas akin to Liveable Neighbourhoods. In its Local Implementation Plan Newham Council have told TfL:

    “The Council is committed to the delivery of Safe and Healthy Neighbourhoods schemes across the Borough in response to resident concerns. Two schemes are already being delivered with 2018-19 LIP funding in the East Ham North and Manor Park wards”