Hi everyone, time for a writeup on the Partnership meeting at the start of this month. As you may have noticed we went on as much of a media frenzy as we can muster leading up to this, as we were aware that the current format of Leighton Buzzard’s high street would be discussed. We’re in support of the changes to the high street on the whole, of course with the addition of a cycle lane too. It’s important to get our voices heard whenever the opportunity presents itself. Cycling is of course just as valid a means of transport as any other, and it’s good to remind those in power that this is the case. Certainly the majority of people that have turned up to the Dr Bike stands have seemed to use their bicycle for running errands as well as leisure rides. I went to the high street on the Saturday I wrote the draft for this blog post to get some photos. As soon as I arrived, what did I see? Some utility cyclists! Fantastic!
Of course I have to add thank you so much to the people who emailed in to their councillors regarding the discussion that was to be had. It was an absolute joy to see the emails arrive in the BuzzCycles inbox and our supporters get involved in local politics like that. Personally I’m beginning to think that regular contact with your local councillor has far more impact than voting in general elections has (especially given the FPTP system we’re stuck with). If you thought the average election turnout in this country is low, can you imagine how few people contact their local councillors? I suspect it’s a minority of the town, therefore every email that does get sent has a real impact. I think we had about ten emails sent to numerous councillors via the Buzz Cycles email template. Difficult to say how much of an impact they had, but I’m sure they made a difference, so thank you so much.
I was hoping to be able to reference the minutes but they don’t seem to have appeared on the town council’s website yet. Oops! I’ll try and give you my recollection of what happened.
The motion put forward by Cllr. Steve Owen (Lib Dems, Barnabas Ward) was for a request to be put forward by the town council to CBC (Central Beds. Council) on a range of options that could be considered if the scheme were to be made permanent. He was also clear that he took issue with the supposedy muddying between the current temporary scheme and the possibility of a permanent scheme…this is understandable. As much as we would like the scheme to just become permanent and that be the end of it, it’s not the best way of achieving this aim. There’s plenty of evidence out there to suggest the general public is largely in favour of changes to make cycling and walking easier, so we’re confident that a permanent scheme should be put out to a proper consultation. A consultation also means that we can get our views across as to how a permanent scheme would be best implemented, complete with cycle lane, planters, seating, all that good good stuff.
Of course once that happens, we’ll be putting the work in to get you talking about why you think it’s important to keep cars out of the high street…and indeed let people ride their bike through on market days.
Cllr. Victoria Harvey (Independent, Leston Ward) appeared to be the most informed on what was going on regarding the temporary scheme, ths revelation that that we’d been waiting for some additional benches since last summer was disappointing.
Disappointingly, Cllr. Gordon Perham (Conservative, Southcott) seemed rather adament that during a pandemic was not the time to be discussing making such a scheme permanent. Of course I’d be inclined to say now is precisely the time, we’ve all been made more aware than ever during the 1st lockdown especially that our town is much more pleasant when there’s a reduction in motor vehicles. With the climate crisis looming and constant media coverage of the “failing high street” time is of the essence to make changes to the high street to increase community feel and make a case for better conditions for trading.
Eventually when the votes were cast, the good news is Cllr. Owen’s motion passed! Councillors Harvey, Owen, and Hemmings voted for, while Dodwell, Perham and Dodwell voted against. I think the overall results were six for three against, sorry I can’t remember who else voted for. While it could be argued this is not a huge step forward it does mean we’ll get get some options from Central Beds. Council, which must be far better than putting this off until the pandemic is over. Thanks again to everyone who wrote in, your support means a lot to everyone at BuzzCycles.
Leighton BuzzCycles 