Hackney LCC meeting
Wednesday 4 December 2002
Venue: Pub on the Park, London E8
Present:
Tim Evans (Chair), Marian Farrugia, Patrick Field, Iain Galbraith
(Haringey LCC/Mouchel), Paul Golding, Katie Hanson, Sally Haywill, Dave
Holladay (Transport Management Solutions), Charlie Lloyd, Oliver Schick
(Minutes), Ralph Smyth, Vincent Stops
Apologies for absence
Brenda Puech, Trevor Parsons, Ben Webster
Topics discussed:
1. Cycle Centre at Finsbury Park
2. Hackney Cycle Parking Project
3. Hackney Festival Support Site and Northwold Road
4. Burns Night
5. AGM Business
6. Bike Week
7. Any other business
1. Cycle Centre at Finsbury
Park
Iain Galbraith presented draft plans for a
new 'Cycling Centre' at Finsbury Park station. This is being planned by
TfL's Cycling Centre of Excellence as a pilot scheme for further such
centres. They are partly modelled on facilities already in existence in
Holland (more than 80 major cycle parking locations that park up to
2,000 cycles each). They provide secure parking, showers, lockers, and
the like. The Centre presently proposed comes in the second phase of
station improvements undertaken by the Finsbury Park Partnership (the
previous phase was a traffic scheme around the station, and the third
phase will be station engineering). Iain showed drawings of the
proposed Centre to the meeting. It is to be located at the currently
closed entrance into Finsbury Park (the park, not the station) just
north of Station Place.
The meeting's response was mostly critical.
We didn't think the proposals as presently drawn up would make the
centre very successful, for the following reasons:
- Finsbury Park station is a through
station, not a terminus or a main station as in European towns, and it
is therefore not a likely exchange point for modal shifts from public
transport to bicycle or vice versa. Therefore, the purpose of a Cycling
Centre would not be clear. While you probably get hotter and sweatier
on the tube the rest of the way from Finsbury Park into Central London
than on a bike, we felt such a centre would be more successfully
trialled at a major rail terminus in Zone 1.
- Its location under the present proposals
is not central enough to the station to make an impact and is in fact
somewhat out of the way. A successful centre would need to be more
accessible and visible.
- Finsbury Park station is split into two
parts, with a bus station at each side, so that a Cycling Centre would
only be noticed or used by those at one end. Much better to use a
station that's not split up like this.
- We compared the proposals to other
successful cycle-related operations in London (London Recumbents in
Dulwich Park, Bike Park) and felt that a facility combined with, for
example, a kids' track (where children could do off-road cycle training
and ride), or a test track for unusual bikes, as at London Recumbents,
would be more of a draw and not just aimed at commuters.
- Charlie suggested the money would be
more sensibly spent to develop a long-standing proposal for a
high-level (i.e., attached to the railway bridge) cycle bypass across
the whole Finsbury Park area.
- A priority for making Finsbury Park
station more cycle-friendly and to help a Cycling Centre become a
success would be removing the Finsbury Park gyratory.
In short, the meeting felt that the proposals
were at present not very well-developed, but expressed its full support
in general and at better locations for similar facilities, or even a
centre with a different concept near Finsbury Park.
Back to the top
2. Hackney Cycle Parking
Project
Dave Holladay reported on the Cycle Parking
Project for which Transport Management Solutions are carrying out the
groundwork of analysing cycle usage, demand, and suitable parking
locations. He explained how by a system of map squares and scoring trip
generators within these squares a report would be produced by January.
We talked some more about details of cycle parking installation
standards, on-road as well as on private land (estates/converting
former pram sheds into cycle storage units). 40 cycle parking stands
will be installed around Hackney in this financial year using money
granted by the local Transport Sub-Partnership, on which we are
represented.
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3. Hackney Festival Support
Site and Northwold Road
Oliver reported on a meeting with the
architect of the redevelopment of the Hackney Festival Support site.
There are currently ten car parking spaces in the plans for fourteen
living or office units. We were concerned that housing developments in
Hackney were still being built with disproportionate levels of
off-street car parking provision. Vincent suggested contacting the
Hackney Society, who are co-opted to the Planning Committee and share
this concern. In particular, there were questions of whether the area's
transport mix would be disturbed by the proposed development, or
whether there were other material objections that would be recognised
as planning issues.
On Northwold Road, we have produced a
response to the Council's proposals for traffic calming in the area. We
discussed this some more and were concerned that the cushions put in to
allow the 73 bus along the western part of Northwold Road (along the
Common) would impede the lateral movement of cyclists, that the main
problem was that the street didn't look 'local' enough, causing
motorists to use it as a high-speed rat-run connecting the A10 and
A107, and that we wanted to support local residents in campaigning for
a pedestrian crossing at Northwold (Primary) School. Other measures
suggested were entry tables, 'elephants' feet' (white dashed lines
across roads at crossing points), resurfacing roads in particular
colours, and 'chokes' (road narrowings at entry points). Oliver will
produce a second draft of the response based on the suggestions.
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4. Burns Night
We briefly discussed Burns Night to get the
organisation rolling, focusing on mobilising volunteers, advertising,
and entertainment. The Muckers (the band) are confirmed, no piper as
yet, the venue will be Sir Thomas Abney school again, and we might hire
adult tables and chairs (the school's furniture is all kid-sized ...).
The event will be on Saturday the 25th of January. Click here for more details on the event.
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5. AGM Business
As it was already getting late, we decided to
defer the AGM business until the next meeting on January 8th, 2003.
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6. Bike Week
We briefly discussed the proposal of specific
themes proposed for Bike Week by the steering committee and felt that
it failed to recognise the reality of Bike Week, where small local
groups like ours need to focus mainly on publicity, supported by a good
media job by the LCC office and a good Bike Week leaflet. We agreed to
have one media hook, perhaps the launch of a Bicycle Users' Group or
another local project that has just secured funding, and to do our
usual mixture of breakfasts and rides.
Back to the top
7. Any other business
It was felt that it was time to get busy
getting a drink before last orders were over.
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Next Meeting: Wednesday, 8th January, 2003,
Pub on the Park, London Fields, 8:00pm (social get together from
7:00pm)
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