Chester Cycling Campaign Meetings

Meetings on First Wednesday of the Month

Chester Cycling Campaign meets on the first Wednesday of every month (except for the month of January) at 7:30 p.m. here:

Upstairs Meeting Room (follow the signs)
Custom House Pub
67 Watergate Street
Chester
CH1 2LB

Click here for a map (opens in new window).

Everyone is welcome. Please feel free to come along and find out how you can become involved.

Draft Agenda For Next Meeting

At each Campaign meeting, the agenda for the following meeting is planned.  Members are welcome to come along and share their ideas and energy, and to raise matters that they would like discussed.

Agenda For Next Meeting

Meeting Minutes

The Chester Cycling Campaign is involved in a wide range of activity, including liaison with developers, putting the views of cyclists to public bodies, producing literature, and public relations.  You can keep informed about these activities by reading the minutes of our meetings which are regularly posted on this website.  Minutes are posted here approximately one month after the date of the meeting.  (File sizes vary between 10 KB and 1 MB.)

All documents below are provided in PDF format and can be viewed using Adobe Reader. Left click on the links below to open and view the documents.  Right click on a link, and choose ‘Save Target As’ to download a file to your computer.

No meeting took place in August 2010.

Minutes of July 2010 Meeting

Minutes of June 2010 Meeting

Minutes of May 2010 Meeting

Minutes of April 2010 Meeting

Minutes of March 2010 Meeting

Minutes of February 2010 Annual General Meeting

No meeting took place in January 2010.

Minutes of December 2009 Meeting

Minutes of November 2009 Meeting

Minutes of October 2009 Meeting

Minutes of September 2009 Meeting

Minutes of August 2009 Meeting

If you feel that you can contribute to any of our work, please contact the Campaign or just come along to one of our meetings.

Comments About Cycling in Chester

Chester residents and visitors are invited to add comments to many pages on this website. Often their comments provide an interesting picture of what it is actually like to cycle in the city, as well as a pointer to what kinds of improvements might be needed.

We hope you find reading these comments an instructive experience. Feel free to add your own!

What is the Cycle Demonstration Town Project?

About the Cycle Demonstration Town Project

In January 2008, the Government allocated an unprecedented £140m to Cycling England for the following three years. This funding injection gave a huge boost to the Cycling Demonstration Towns programme.

In June 2008, Cycling England announced Greater Bristol as the UK’s first official Cycling City, together with a further 11 Cycling Towns across England.  The new city and towns, together with the original six, will benefit from a share of £100m to pioneer innovative ways to increase cycling in their areas. Along with Chester, the other 11 new Cycling Towns/Cities are:

• Blackpool
• Bristol
• Cambridge
• Colchester
• Leighton-Linslade
• Shrewsbury
• Southend-on-Sea
• Southport with Ainsdale
• Stoke
• Woking
• York

Cycling England has published an overview of the entire Cycle Demonstration Town programme which describes in some detail the plans which each of the chosen communities has for their CDT initiative.

Chester’s Cycle Demonstration Town Plans

Chester’s Cycle Demonstration Town project is an ambitious programme of improvements for cycling in Chester which over the coming years, including developments to cycling infrastructure, training and participation. The overall aim is to double the number of journeys made by bike between 2009 and 2012, with the main target being people who don’t currently use their bikes to cycle short journeys in and around Chester.

The three years of Cycling England funding will be used to try to engage with the whole community, particularly young people.  The project will actively encourage residents to cycle more by supporting them through training and participation, with the aim of making cycling the most obvious transport choice for journeys around Chester.

Improvements to key cycling infrastructure and the establishing of city centre cycle permeability will add to the attraction of cycling as a transport mode. The Cycling Demonstration Town project is managed by a Steering Group. The Chester cycling community is represented on the steering group by the Chester Cycling Campaign.

Your Cycling Ideas Can Help Chester to Prosper

All the communities that towns and cities with the best quality of life in Britain like York, Bath or Cambridge have large numbers of cyclists. This is no accident. There is overwhelming evidence that high cycling levels makes cities wealthier, cleaner, healthier and happier. And these things created a virtuous circle that makes cycling more attractive.

But nowhere has this happened – in Britain or in Europe, unless citizens have become active to lobby for resources to be spent on cycling at the right time. As a first step we need you to let us know the areas that could be improved.

The time is now. The new Cheshire West and Chester authority (CWaC) will soon have to decide on it’s priorities for transport capital programme (snappily titled: LTP3). This runs from April 2011, but discussions have already started . As CWaC has few large schemes carried over from the old authority, there is a great opportunity. Chester is at a cross roads. If we make the right arguments now, cycling projects that improve the economy and quality of life, will be part of this new plan. The Chester 2050 exercise has shown cycling as a positive part of the future. If we can persuade the right people, we will succeed, just as we did in winning the Cycle Demonstration Town project.

Hoole Road Bridge is a perfect example of the sort of project that needs to be included. Intimidating for all but the most adventurous cyclist, a recent report has shown that a safe combined cycleway and pedestrian bridge can be provided at a modest price compared to most road schemes, Thousands of people could start cycling, reducing congestion and pollution, freeing up road space for essential traffic and bringing money in Chester, rather than elsewhere.

Cycling in Chester has come a long way in the last year. Almost £7 million Cycle Demonstration Town cash will be spent over the next three years, and we can either allow the effort to fizzle out, or make it a base to build on. There are plenty of areas the money will not touch. The intimidating ring road, and numerous mini roundabouts need to be treated, and continuous, safer on and off-road cycle routes provided. And of course the benefits of cycling need to be rolled out to the rest of West Cheshire too.

Cycling is a healthy way for people to travel without congestion or pollution, with minimal need for road space or expensive and land-hungry car parking. And everyone who cycles into Chester re-cycles money in our economy. And pro-cycling is definitely not anti-car. And this is why we need you to join in.

What Can I Do?

We must create a vision for Chester cycling after 2011, based on solid evidence and solid proposals. We need to engage organisations as diverse as the zoo, racecourse, health service, university, and Grosvenor estates. Schemes must be mainly capital (in other words, leave an asset). We need your ideas! Good examples would be:

• Hoole Road Bridge
• Complete, safer cycle routes (such as from the zoo to city centre)
• Tackling dangerous roundabouts on the Chester ring roads
• Improved bridges or new bridges

We need to convince the council, and to start now. First, by give us your ideas us through the website, or PBlackie62@hotmail.com. We will then need help to pool and develop the best ideas, and to lobby decision makers.

Welcome to the Chester Cycle City Website!

This website is owned by and is being developed by the Chester Cycling Campaign with the aim of supporting the Cycle Demonstration Town project (CDT).  Bartlett’s Solicitors have generously sponsored the development of the website as a result of the interest and involvement of one of the firm’s partners who is an active cyclist and a Life Member of the Chester Cycling Campaign.

Active involvement of the local cycling community is a key component of the CDT project, and is one of the funding requirements.  As part of the process of establishing the formal governance arrangements for the project, the Chester Cycling Campaign has been chosen to represent the local cycling community on the project Steering Group.  The development and maintenance of this website is intended to form part of the way that the Campaign carries out this responsibility.

The aim of this website is to create an interactive internet resource, enabling the Chester cycling community to participate in the CDT project.   Many parts of the website are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments, make suggestions and otherwise participate in the CDT project.  Note that comments are moderated, and not all comments are published.  There may be a delay before comments appear on the website.

In addition, visitors can also add comments and start conversations on our Chester Cycle City Forum.  Note that the forum is hosted on a separate Proboards website.  You will need to use your browser’s ‘Back’ button, ‘History’ log, or ‘Search’ feature to return to this site after visiting the forum.

About the Chester Cycling Campaign

About Us

Cycling is healthy, cheap, fast, and clean. It could be a key part of solving our transport problems and ensuring the prosperity of Chester. We know that people want to use their bikes more but current conditions put people off. Chester Cycling Campaign is pushing for a better, greener city by making cycling a safe and attractive transport option.

Aims

The Chester Cycling Campaign supports the Government’s aim to quadruple bike use by 2012.  We are working with other cycling organisations in the city and with Cheshire West and Chester council to try to maximise the benefits of Chester’s Cycling Demonstration Town status for the local cycling community. We are campaigning for:

• 100 kms of cycle routes around the city
• 20 mph speed limits on residential streets
• safe routes to schools
• better city centre access
• two-way cycle flows on one-way streets
• free carriage of bikes on trains
• better bike parking facilities

Objectives

The main focus of the coming year will be on maximising the benefits for local cyclists following an incredible year in 2008 which saw Chester benefit from over £6 million in cycle funding from Connect2 and Cycle Demonstration Town status. The Campaign’s objectives for 2009 are to:

• Write a letter to the press each month for publication
• Hold at least one Doctor Bike Session to assist with new membership
• Issue at least 6 press releases on cycling issues
• Encourage the Cheshire West and Chester Council to maintain and improve cycle parking
• Actively support the Sustrans Connect2 project
• Campaign to improve Hoole Bridge/Railway Station access
• Improve North/South crossing of Chester City Centre for cyclists
• Reduce temporary closure of cycleways and to try to ensure that authorities take account of
  cyclists when planning roadworks
• Establish formal contact with Cheshire West and Chester Council for cycling related matters
• Highlight the disparity of cycle mileage expenses paid by local major
  employers and the basis on which the rates are calculated
• Campaign for Cheshire West and Chester Council to have a dedicated team to promote the needs of cyclists
• Campaign for cycling to be a key part of the transport strategy of Cheshire West and Chester Council
• Develop a state of the art website to support Chester’s Cycle Demonstration Town status
• Provide comments on relevant planning applications
• Campaign for cycleway maintenance including gritting

Find Out More

You can also find out more about cycling in Chester by joining the Campaign’s Cyclomania Egroup. Further
information about the Egroup can be found on the Cyclomania Egroup Webpage:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyclomania

The Cyclomania Egroup is unmoderated and membership is open to all. Subscribe to the egroup and join in the lively debate about the future of cycling in Chester! You can join the Cyclomania Egroup by visiting our Yahoo groups website.

Membership of the Chester Cycling Campaign is open to anyone who supports our aims.

Click here to find out about how to join the Campaign.

Click here to download a Chester Cycling Campaign flyer and membership application form.

Meetings

Meetings of the Chester Cycling Campaign are held monthly on the first Wednesday of the month.  Find out more.

Cyclomania

Cyclomania is the quarterly newsletter of the Chester Cycling Campaign.  Click here to see the latest issues.

Constitution of the Chester Cycling Campaign

The Constitution of the Chester Cycling Campaign was approved at the Annual General Meeting held on 5 February 2003, and subsequently amended at the Annual General Meeting held on 4 February 2009. A copy of the Constitution is provided here in PDF format (64KB).

Constitution of the Chester Cycling Campaign

Webmaster

If you have any comments or updates regarding this website, then contact the Chester Cycling Campaign webmaster by submitting a comment.

Join the Chester Cycling Campaign Online Now

By using your credit card, debit card or PayPal account to join the Campaign today, you can support our work to create a better, greener city and to promote cycling as a safe and attractive transport option.

                                                                                                Photo Credit: J. Bewley/Sustrans

Chester Cycle City Forum Live!

Click here to go straight to the Chester Cycle City Forum!

Here is where you can get in touch with others in the Chester cycling community.  The forum hosts discussions on a wide range of subjects. Use of the forum is free, and no registration is required.

Here are some of the topics you will find:

Free Ads – Selling some bike parts or maybe a whole bike? Advertise here for free!

Find Someone to Cycle With – Going out for a long bike ride, but don’t want to go alone? See if you can find someone to ride with here.

What’s the Best Way to Cycle From ‘A’ to ‘B’? – Trying to get from ‘A’ to ‘B’ in Chester by bike (like from Handbridge to the Countess of Chester Hospital) and wondering what is the best way to go? Ask for suggestions here.

Find or Borrow a Tool – Doing some tricky maintenance on your bike and need a special tool? Post here and maybe someone will be able to loan you a tool for an afternoon.

Getting Started Cycling – New to cycling? Here’s where to get advice and support.

Chester Cycle City Question Zone – Ask questions and make general comments about the Cycle Demonstration Town Project.

Click here to go straight to the Chester Cycle City Forum!

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Take a Ride on Chester’s Traffic-free Cyclepaths

Chester’s cycling infrastructure features traffic-free routes, including canalside paths and the Millennium Greenway.  Cycling these routes is a great family activity that won’t break the bank!

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