Notes from Wheelers Meeting held on 14 July 2004
in Victoria Park, near Bonner Hall Bridge entrance
Present:
Owen Pearson (chair), Gary Cummins (minutes), Kerry Noble, Deb Brown, Chris Webb, Colin Waters, Steve Collins, Keith Jones
Apologies: Caroline Fenton, Dave Allison, Steve Bradley
1. Introductions
Everyone welcomed first timers Deb and Chris, Deb being one of our Bike Buddy scheme members.
2. Matters arising from last meeting, 9 June 2004
All outstanding matters to be covered in following items.
3. Finances
Balance still stands at just over £8000. £50 donated by Friends of Mile End Park for our attendance at their Get Moving! event on 4 July.
4. Bike Buddy & Cycle Training Scheme
Over 50 have now shown an interest in the scheme with 43 returning the introductory questionnaires. Probably half of those had made use of the free training though we are always behind with those numbers because they are not confirmed until we receive Cycle Training's and London School of Cycling's invoices.
ACTIONS:
• Owen to make a start on follow-up questionnaire to assess usefulness of scheme, progress of scheme members etc.
• Owen to follow up with Lucy at LCC about the Jagonari Centre, Whitechapel receiving cycle training as discussed at May's meeting.
5. Workshop & Bike Re-Cycling
Workshop:
June's workshop went well. Some local children attended - they were well-behaved and appreciative of the help given. It did raise the issue though of dealing with children attending the workshop especially with us being in the work space of the users of the town hall. Not all the children will be well-behaved and experience from the previous Wheelers workshop is that it can sometimes be a nightmare. Agreed that it would probably be best if children were accompanied by a parent/guardian.
The next workshop is on 31 July 2004. As it is the same day as the Dunwich Dynamo, it was suggested a pasta cooking and eating session might be useful!
Bike Re-Cycling:
Gary now has 4 bikes for re-cycling, Caroline and Dave still have 2 bikes. Agreed to hold a bike build day on Saturday, 7 August at Gary's house.
ACTIONS:
• Gary to prepare for bike build day.
6. Campaigns
Sale of stolen bikes at Brick Lane:
Colin had a bike stolen recently and has since formulated a letter, passed to the group to be sent to police, local authority, government etc, identifying the 'stolen bike industry' operating at Brick Lane market. The aim is to urge a trading standards crackdown on the market, thereby denying a 'fence' for the stolen machines.
Colin counted over 100 bikes for sale on a Sunday morning in Brick Lane recently. He has also gathered Met Office statistics to add weight to his letter: 1200 bikes were stolen in Tower Hamlets in the last 12 months, 20,000 in London in 12 months (figures of reported thefts, actual number is probably higher).
ACTIONS:
• Colin to pass on final version of letter to Owen who will put it on the website and distribute it to the other LCC egroups asking members to bombard the above authorities with letters.
Victoria Park barrier gates:
Concerns and complaints about recently installed anti-motorcycle gates at many entrances to Victoria Park have been received via Hackney Cyclists and other users of the routes through the park. These barriers are inconvenient for cyclists and make access particularly bad if not impossible for wheelchair users, disabled etc. They surely do not comply with recent disabled access legislation.
Group agreed enforcement of miscreants is better than detering legitimate park users.
ACTIONS:
• Owen to chase LBTH to ask why they were installed, who authorised the installation and how to get them removed.
7. Borough Traffic Schemes
Vallance Road/Hanbury Street new cycle facilities: Owen has had no response from the LBTH manager of this project requesting the reasoning behind this scheme and why Wheelers were not consulted.
ACTIONS:
• Owen to follow up.
8. Newsletter, Media & Website
Media:
The Beigel Race had coverage in East London Advertiser and Tower Hamlets Recorder. Coverage of the Victoria Park event also spotted but unfortunately no copies kept.
ACTIONS:
• Kerry to get hold of back issues of Advertiser and Recorder papers containing Wheelers articles.
Newsletter:
June/July newsletter published first week of July and posted to all Tower Hamlets LCC members who receive the London Cyclist magazine. Deadline for Aug/Sep newsletter to be at the LCC offices for inclusion in the London Cyclist mailout is 16 July.
ACTIONS:
• Carol and Steve to produce newsletter.
Website:
ACTIONS:
• Owen to renew hosting.
9. Rides, Events & Socials
Rides: Steve C has now finalised ride dates up until October.
ACTIONS:
• Owen to update ride dates on website.
Events coming up:
17 July: Respect Festival, Victoria Park. Hackney Cyclists have suggested to the organisers that they create a "bike park" for festival visitors. The LCC stall can then also provide the security for it.
18 July: Spitalfields Community Festival & Eco Fair, Buxton Street. We will have our stall, Dr Bike and obstacle course.
18 July: London Bikeathon. Gary and Steve C to provide a Dr Bike service in King Edward Memorial Park, Shadwell.
10. AOB
• Owen had a meeting with Volunteer Action Tower Hamlets. Wheelers are now registered on their books with the possibilty of them sending suitable volunteers to join in with our activities.
• Gary has suggested three social events: a film evening showing "Breaking Away", an autumn weekend in the Cotswolds and a weeks touring holiday in May 2005.
The meeting closed at 8:30pm and all went to the Approach pub where they were joined by a few more Wheelers.
Next meeting: 11 August, venue and time tba.
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