Report from the forum. Martin Stanley, Will Crocombe, Steve Hammond, Tony Read were there on behalf of the campaign. Others always welcome, now that the additional subgroups have been added, the quarterly forums are more accessible, and about policy, rather than individual infrastracture plans.
We started off with a presentation from Liz Bennett (Leeds City Council) on 'Our transport vision for a 21st Century Leeds'. The document that was discussed can be found here and the report to the council executive board is here. We still need to go through the report in detail, but first impressions are very positive. It seems that there is a collective opinion now that private motor vehicles are not the answer, and we need to priortise sustainable forms of transport in order to allow Leeds to flourish. We may just be having an impact after all! Please send comments on the documents to highways@leeds.gov.uk.
We than had a presentation from David Hall (formerley of Sustrans) regarding the proposed HS2 Cycleway. This will be a cycleway that roughly follows the route of HS2 linkig in to towns and villages on the route. The options regarding the section from Wakefield to Leeds were discussed. With the main roads/more picturesque choice being the main topic. We are waiting for confirmation that the report on the routes can be made public, then we will distribute.
Items rasied by forum members: Churwell Hill was raised by Martin on behalf of Andy Beck. Cats-eyes have been installed under the railway bridge. These are a danger to cyclists and we have been promised for months that they would be changed. No action has been seen regarding these. The officer responsible was not at the meeting so Gwyn Owen assured us he would chase.
There was an update on the Subgroup meetings, but we report these as they happen so no need to repeat here.
Roger Harington updated us on the Tour de France Legacy Board, Martin also sits on this. It is early days, but the way it is envisaged to work will be an advisory board, advising (and driving) the council on all aspects of cycling policy, both sport and transport.
Tim Parry then updated us on the cycling friendly parks scheme. A trial has been run over the summer in three parks, where the by-laws restricting cycling have been temporarily lifted. As expected there were no issues or injuries to other park users, so the scheme is planned to be rolled out across other parks in Leeds. Special mention should go out to the Works Skatepark who have been running events and engaged approximately 1200 people in cycling related activies.
The next Consultation Forum is scheduled for Wednesday 20th Jan 2016 at 6pm.