Barry Mason

I was shocked and appalled first thing Friday 3 June to hear of Barry Mason drowning in Spain while on holiday.  Its taken several days for the news to sink in.

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_30755.shtml

I knew Barry through my long standing support of Southwark Cyclists. Before Barry took over as chair I chaired it. I remember his first coming to a meeting all bursting with enthusiam and energy. He hasn’t stop that enthusiam once. He went onto re energise the Dunwich Dynamo bigger and better than ever and more recently save Surrey Docks Farm in his own inimateable way – even getting arrested in the process.

Barry you were definately one in a million. I can’t imagine the cycling scene in London and Southwark without you. 

I’m sure I’m not alone in being determined to give all the projects he was so passionate about more support to try and ensure they don’t fold or collapse with the shock of his death. I’ll be at Southwark Cyclists monthly meeting this Wednesday.

Carbon based parking charges

Southwark Council has been consulting via the community council on charging for parking permits based on the vehicles carbon emissions.

Overall it will see more than 25% increase in charges.

Option 1 – straight increase in charges from £99.30 to £125 – ouch.

Option 2 – increase the charge from £99.30 to one of 6 bands between £30->£225 but overall an average charge of slightly over £125.

At the Dulwich Community Council the councillors and audience opted for Option 2  of the two options. The surplus on running the parking revenue account is used for things like lolly pop ladies, teaching kids how to cross roads. Useful stuff.

But it now transpires that the council are slashing it spending on lolly pop men and women. The average lolly pop person has seen a drop in salary of £200pcm. With many at cancelled being cancelled.

It seem perverse to have a huge steep increase in charges while at the same time slashing services. it must be that Labour don’t belief in lolly pop men and women and the value they bring.

Avoidable injuries amongst Southwark children will occur and frankly it is a disgraceful decision. Apart from the cruelty of this in pure costs to our local society the total costs of these injuries will out-way the savings. And the savings aren’t necessary because of the huge rise in parking permit fees.

New Lordship Lane crossing – step nearer

Earlier this week Cllr Jonathan Mitchell and I met with council traffic officers and a representative of the South Southwark Business Association about two proposed new crossings of Lordship Lane. Please see attached draft plans of what they might look like.

http://jamesbarber.mycouncillor.org.uk/files/2011/04/LL1.pdf

The first is across lordship Lane adjacent to its junction with East Dulwich Grove. This should have the benefit of giving people the chance to turn right across  Lane into EDG as well as cross LL. It will take out approximately 1 non morning peak car parking space. I asked whether a full ‘entry treatment’ could also be installed as part of this making walking along Lordship Lane clearer to everyone so people walking don’t have to dodge vehicles.

The second is a crossing where the Coop is. On the eastern side the kerb would be built out. This reduces the distance to cross so reduces the time vehicles are stopped and minimises parking to be lost – a win win. Due to TfL Buses we can’t do this on the left hand side. This would overall take out around 6-9 car parking spaces – 3 on the eastern side permanently and 6 on the western side outside of the bus lane times of working.

Talking to officers its believed these lost car parking spaces can be made up for by having a very close look at existing yellow lines on LL and the roads leading of off it and replacing with 30 minutes parking with no return in 2 hours ie. the same restrictions as those lost.

Overall these changes would very nearly complete all the changes residents highlighted in a walking audit undertaken in conujunction with Living Streets 4 years ago.

Please do take a look and let me know what you think.

Snowfighting

To fight snow falls salt is an integral weapon in Southwark councils arsenal. To ensure salt can be spread it needs to be kept dry else is goes lumpy and cakes. Uncovered salt also leaches away causing environmental problems.

The 40thSnowfighters handbook states “Salt piles must be covered on an impermeable pad. Salt users usually prefer permanent structures on asphalt pads with proper drainage. Temporary waterproof coverings can be effective if tended carefully. Covering salt also helps avoid loss of material through leaching and caking. Also, salt without cakes and lumps spreads with no difficulty.”

When asked, Southwark officers have always assured me that Southwarks salt supply is kept under covers. So I paid a visit to Southwarks salt. Its located at the junction of Latona Road  with Haymerle Road.

Any attempt to us this salt will be at best problematic. In fact much will need to be thrown away and replaced. I also found this salt store uncovered 3 months ago when nearly empty when I last checked. I had assumed wrongly that as operational they’d just forgotten to replace the cover. Sadly I was wrong and its an ongoing problem of salt mismanagement by Southwark.

Ideally salt would be kept in a salt barn. I’ve previously asked and the administration whether they would consider installing a salt barn (£200,000 capital) and they have stated that  they wont build a salt barn as they claimed no need as they kept the salt covered with tarpaulins and tyres.

IF the Lib Dems were running the council we would build a proper salt store to avoid council officers failing to keep salt covered, ensure we had quality salt available to keep Southwark streets clear and avoid the recent winter salt rationing that left so many of our streets in a parlous state.

New lease of life for Velodrome?

I was chuffed to hear that the Herne Hill Velodrome access from Burbage Road has been given a 15 year lease by the Dulwich Estate.

Well done to the Save Herne Hill Velodrome for coming up with a sensible proposition that the Dulwich Estate felt they could back with a 15 year lease. Clearly not out of the woods yet but a good step forward.

As part of this campagin, led by Hilary Peachey, architects Hopkins Architects have produced some plans and model which will be on display at Dulwich College great hall 7.30-m to 9.30pm 22 March.

Unfortunately I’ll be away on business out of London. But I wish the scheme well. Hope it’s really ambitious for this venue so that it becomes truly sustainable. And also that it meets all the planning requirements and can be approved by a planning committee.

Southwark London Cycle Network fails

Snow arrived in Southwark over a week ago. None of the official London Cycle Network was gritted but fortunately warmer rain on Saturday resolved most of the snow and ice. No thanks to Southwark Council this time round.

But some key parts of that network still have snow and ice as they are over bridges – which stay colder as they have cold air above and beneath them. This is a picture of LCN23 on Greendale. This is the main spine cycle route south to north in Southwark. At this point you have to get of and walk.

How many car drivers does Sotuhwark expect on their main roads to be out of their cars and push?

 lcn-23-greendale.jpg

The problem with such bridges was raised last year and agreed they needed more priority.

I’ll be seeking a full review of the Winter Service Plan.

What do you think has gone wrong?

Lorries for Savvy Cyclists

Better Bankside are running an event today called ‘Lorries for Savvy Cyclists’ just of off Winchester Walk near Southwark Cathedral in SE1.

Great event for my bike as it received a free health check, had its brakes fixed, tyres fully inflated and property marked. All good stuff for the bike.

But the main aim was to create opportunities for cyclists to site in massive lorry cab in the drivers seats, while Police cyclists positioned themselves and bikes around the lorry. Much of the time you couldn’t see them – even with the zillions of mirrors and them being rather tall and wearing his vis coats etc. Real eye opener. Well worth it if you ever get such a chance to climb into the cab. Below is a picture of one of the tipper trucks with a mat outlined in yellow line. Everything inside the yellow lined area you can’t see a cyclist from the drivers seat.

lorries-for-savvy-cyclists.jpg

I’ll be cycling differently in future.

The Thames Cycle path at Waterloo

Crazy moves are afoot by Kate Hoey MP – Mayor Boris Johnson’s sports czar – to ban people cycling responsibly along the River Thames between Lambeth Bridge and Waterloo Bridge.

She has stated in a letter to local residents “There is of course an excellent cycling route on the main road along past Lambeth Palace and the hospital”.

The alternative, which in her opinion is ok for unescorted children, can be seen in these pictures.

photo1978.jpg   photo1970.jpg

I always thought her love of fox hunting from an inner London MP bizarre but this takes the biscuit.

10 years

Saturday 23 October 6pm was the tenth anniversary of Brigitte Robinson’s death by 18 wheel tipper truck lorry at the junction of Great Suffolk Street with Borough High Street.

Brigitte was a close friend I met when I was the chairperson of Southwark Cyclists. One of the most vivacious fun people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. We and many others were ardent cycle campaigners. She touched on so many lives that it was particularly tragic that she should die while cycling.

The lorry driver was found to have been working 7 days a week, 14 hour days for many many months and at the time had his son in the cab during the school holidays!

What’s changed since then?

About another 100 cyclists have died in London by Lorry. Not much else.

In Southwark the councils fleet of vehicles now has side bars to reduce the chance of going under the back. I’ve been assured that Veolia, Southwark’s waste contractor, will be strongly encouraged in May/June when its fleet renewal comes up to have side bars. This will make a difference but wont solve it single handed.

What next…..

Save the Velodrome

Wednesday night I attended the [url=http://www.savethevelodrome.com]Save the Herne Hill Velodrome[/url] meeting. It is amazing good fortune that we have a historic Velodrome on our doorsteps. So far over 3,500 people have joined the [url=http://facebook.com/savethevelodrome]Facebook group[/url].

The Save the Velodrome committee went through the maths. Predicted costs of £120,000 a year with revenue of £70,000.
How to close that gap?

Once a way of closing that gap is identified the capital costs of resurfacing the track of £190,000 to £240,000 can be found and then around £2M to fully develop the Velodrome to last another 112 years. One idea would be to pay capital to obtain the site on a minimal peppercorn rent. That could help bridge £15,000 of the revenue gap.

I’ve been really impressed with the committee, set up to save the Velodrome, and also the Dulwich Estate for its continued patience and not looking for a quick unsustainable fix. But also the huge ground swell of support. We just need to turn that ground swell into real visits now.

Six years ago the velodrome was in a similar position but the fix was short term. I’m sure this time round everyone involved will ensure we don’t fall for a short term fix again.