Ealing Cycling Campaign
Newsletter May 2002

Ealing Council loses £20,500 of cycling money

Some of us occasionally misplace our keys, or our glasses, but even the most absent-minded of us wouldn't lose £20,500. Yet that's precisely what Ealing Council Transport Department has done. Last year Transport for London gave Ealing £105,000 for a range of cycle improvements as part of the London Cycle Network. The money was earmarked for planned and budgeted schemes, and needed to be spent within the financial year. However, this spring the council pulled its contractors off the cycle work before it was completed, putting them to work on a bus scheme instead. The result is that the council have lost the £20,500. A whole host of cycling improvements won't now take place. These include:

— A cycle refuge in Leeland Terrace to enable cyclists to turn safely into Dean Gardens.

— Cycle racks in Churchfield Road, Bond Street; Churchfield Parade, Boston Road and Hanwell Library.

— Removal and replacement of wrongly positioned signs on LCN cycle route 87

Ealing Cycling Campaign have written to the Transport Department seeking an explanation and have asked for the outstanding schemes to be funded from other parts of their budget. If we don't receive a satisfactory reply, we will seek to take the matter to the Borough Scrutiny Committee.

Cycle lanes in West Ealing

Among the schemes that the council managed to complete was the installation of cycle lanes along Boston Road in West Ealing. This completes the southern end of the Ealing section of LCN route 87 which runs from Greenford to Brentford.

Cycle Maintenance Classes

Sign up for a free beginners' level course in cycle maintenance. Learn to make a series of checks on a bicycle to determine if it is road worthy and gain practical experience of fixing a range of basic problems. Course runs on Saturday 11th & Saturday 18th May starting at 10:00am. Contact: Simeon Bamford 020 7564 5990 for further details. Organised by Ealing Council as part of Adult Learning Week.

Become a Cycle Instructor

Do you want to be employed to train children and adults how to cycle?
Ealing Council are hosting a free 5 day course this Summer, including teaching practice, which will help you to be an instructor in on-road cycle training programmes. For further details contact: Dr. R. Davis, Cycling Officer, Transport Services, London Borough of Ealing, Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road, London W5 2HL, giving your name and postal address.

Events:

We hold our regular monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each month.
The next two meetings are on:

Wednesday 5 June 2002

Wednesday 3 July 2002

7.20 for 7.30 start.

If you haven't been before you are very welcome. We meet at the rear entrance of Perceval House (the modern building to the left of Ealing Town Hall on Ealing Broadway, W5) The meeting ends at 8.45 pm at the latest, and if you're lucky adjourns for beer, wine, cheesecake, etc. at "Cafe Grove" on The Grove, W5.

Bike Week: 15 - 23 June 2002

Car Free Day: Sunday 22 September 2002