Bradford Cycling Campaign Minutes

Monday, 4th December 2017

Pavilion Café, City Park, Bradford

Present: Dave Robison (DA - Chair), Paul Ashton (PA), Krishan Bhaidas (KB), James Craig (JC), Steve Lax (SL), Norah McWilliam (NM), Tony Wild (TW)

  1. Apologies

Cllr Taj Salam

  1. Minutes of the last meeting - AGM held on 21st June 2017

The minutes of the AGM would be considered at the next AGM (date not yet announced)

  1. Mandy Parker – Unsung Hero
  • The Campaign was delighted to note that Mandy Parker, volunteer cycle coach with the East Bradford Cycle Club, was the 2017 Yorkshire ‘Unsung Hero’, and would be representing Yorkshire at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
  1. Canal Road Link
  • The Campaign waspleased that the Canal Road Link CItyConnect project had at last been approved, and work was already underway on Hillam Road.
  • This would eventually link the southern end of the Canal Road Greenway with the city centre, making it possible to cycle offroadall the way from Shipley (and eventually the canal towpath) into Bradford city centre.
  • The campaign was pleased to have had the support of Cllr Taj Salam and other politicians, in securing this decision.
  • Thanks were also due to John Dennis and his colleagues at CityConnect, for their part in lobbying and helping to make this happen; and key officers at Bradford Council such as Tom Jones and Duncan Hall.
  • There was still much work to be done to plan the connection ofthe southern end of the link with the city centre and Forster Square station, and connecting all of this up with the cycle superhighway and Centenary Square.
  • Imminent housing development at the northern end, near Shipley Station, would also cause some disruption short-to medium term.
  1. West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) Bradford District Transport Consultation Sub-Committee
  • James Craig and Norah McWilliam had been appointed as new public representatives on the above committee. They had applied for these positions formally, in response to a public advertisement.
  • The committee is chaired by Cllr Taj Salam.
  1. Cyclocross – Peel Park
  • Peel Park had established itself as a leading venue for cyclo-cross nationally; yet another accolade for Bradford’s cycling scene.
  • Round five of the National Trophy Series was to take place there on Sunday, 10th December, and the 2017 National Championships had been held at the park.
  1. Cycling in Parks
  • Although cycling was evidently allowed in certain parks in Bradford (for instance Peel Park - see above; Bowling Park – NCN route 66; Cliffe Castle Park, Keighley - with dedicated route), there was uncertainty as to whether cycling was legally permitteduniversally.
  • It was suspected that local by-laws indicated that cycling was not allowed on certain paths, and it was felt it might be useful to ascertain the current state-of play.

ACTION: DR to contact Bradford Council to seek clarification

  1. Bicycles on Buses
  • JC offered to conduct some research on provision of ‘bicycles on buses’ – schemes in other parts of the country which permit cycles to be conveyed on buses free of charge, whether on an outsidefront rack or trailer, or inside.
  • It was felt that such a scheme in Bradford in particular could be hugely beneficial, given the hills and perceived barrier to cycling these represented to some people.

ACTION JC to investigate

  1. Queensbury Tunnel Campaign
  • The campaign had received some national press coverage on the BBC Radio 4, with a recent interview by Danny Savage.
  • A survey had already been conducted on the tunnel on behalf of the Queensbury Tunnel Society, strongly contesting the earlier estimated cost of restoration proposed by Highways England. Due to the disparity between the two estimates, another survey had been commissioned by Bradford Council. There was concern that this survey should be undertaken by appropriately qualified and experienced engineers, so that a realistic and pragmatic estimate of restoration can be made.
  • Time is short. The tunnel is scheduled for abandonment by Highways England, beginning in summer 2018, if it is not adopted by the Council.
  • NM and JC were attempting to contact Helen Pidd at ‘The Guardian’, since it was felt that this topic (restoration of old railway tunnels for recreational use) is a topic of national importance.
  • An e-petition had already attracted nearly 4,000 signatures.

ACTION NM to report on progress

  1. Publicity, Membership and Marketing
  • KB was supporting the Bradford Cycle Club’s multimedia activities, including photo editing, short films and website development. He offered to help the Campaign in similar vein, and this was very much welcomed.
  • Spring 2018 would present an excellent opportunity to try and grow the membership.
  • ‘Cycle Bradford’ and ‘Capital of Cycling’ were already major brands on the cycling scene in Bradford; the former was some years old and had been supported by Bradford Council to further the cause of cycling in the District generally via a useful website – but this required maintenance.
  • There continued to be scope for the development of the web presence of the Campaign somewhere within the overall scheme of things, with links to many cycling organisations and interest groups covering a broad range of activity.
  • KB would be pleased to work with DR and others, to develop all of this.

ACTION: KB and DR to meet to plan course of action.

  1. Consultation with Bradford Council
  • BSpoke (the Council’s consultation forum) was set to continuemeeting every quarter or so.
  • In addition, Cllr Salam hadagreed to develop avenues of consultation between officers of the Council and the Campaign.
  • There was emerging enthusiasm for encouraging Councillors, both established and newly-appointed, to cycle, as part of a training package. It was hoped that there would be more scope for organised rides and site visits at various important locations.
  • Cllr Salam had also agreed to help further promote the Bradford Cycle Strategy, together with Cycling UK’s ‘Space for Cycling’ programme. There was scope for closer working and face-to-face dialogue.
  1. CityConnect Community Grants – Cycling and Walking to Work
  • CityConnect had allocated a sumtotalling £150k (£30k per District in West Yorkshire, and grants of up to a maximum of £10k per project), to allocate to voluntary community organisations, to enable a greater take-up of cycling and walking to work. See:
  • The deadline was 31st December 2017 (effectively, Friday, 22nd December, with Christmas “in the way”).
  • Members of the Campaign were invited to give thought to possible schemes; maybe centred on a particular charity or neighbourhood forum.