·         Maidenhead Cycle Hub – Luke McCarthy

·         Hibbert Road – Ian Taplin

·         A308 Braywick Road / Stafferton Way – Ian Taplin

·         Maidenhead Waterways – Ian Taplin

·         Engaging Non-Cyclists – Mike Gammage.

Maidenhead Cycle Hub

Luke McCarthy, Chair of Trustees at the Maidenhead Cycle Hub addressed Members and gave a brief summary of the activities which had taken place over the first year since opening the Maidenhead Cycle Hub. The main points of the summery included:

Ø  Educational Support – At Furze Platt Senior School with Roger, the Hub’s mechanic. Roger visited the school once a fortnight to work with a group of four students who were at risk of exclusion.

Ø  Work Experience – the hub had developed a specialised timetable for a year 11 student who was at risk of exclusion. The hub were supporting the work experience by offering the young person a work placement which took place for two hours per fortnight.

Ø  Bike Riding Lessons – Maidenhead Cycle Hub volunteers have attended a local school during PE lessons to support one student who was unable to ride a bike.

Ø  Maidenhead Cycle Hub and One Housing had been working together to provide activities during the school holidays.

Ø  In October, the Hub ran a Dr Bike session with a difference as part of their activities calendar. They attended their local One Housing Centre and worked with the children on their bikes to check them over and make sure that the bikes they were riding were safe. The Hub also taught the children basic bike maintenance.

Ø  The Hub have worked with Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Guides to deliver cycle maintenance and safety sessions. The activities including showing the children how to repair a puncture.

Ø  Organised Rides – in 2016, Maidenhead Cycle Hub ran a total of 17 rides around the Borough with 86 people taking part.

Ø  Regular rides were aimed at families and adults and were held on the first and third Saturday of the month from July until October 2016.

Ø  Second Hand Bikes – in 2016, the Maidenhead Cycle Hub refurbished 188 bikes with the majority of those already sold at cost-effective prices to local residents to lower the costs of people to own a bike.

Ø  The Maidenhead Cycle hub also worked with corporate partners such as Lexis Nexis, Adobe, GSK and Abbvie.

Ø  The hubs plans for 2017 included:

o   Continuing to offer Dr Bike sessions

o   15 organised rides with community groups

o   20 sessions of work experience

o   20 sessions of curriculum support.

Ø  The Hub will also continue to refurbish and sell bikes, will take part in offering opportunities through the Duke of Edinburgh Award and will continue the organised rides from July to October 2017.

Ø  The Maidenhead Cycle Hub received a total income of £34,248 for 2016 and their total expenditure for the same year was £31,059.

The Chairman stated he was very pleased with the activities of the Cycle Hub as the Council had support the initial set up of the organisation. Susy Shearer said that it would be good to have something similar set up in Windsor. Luke McCarthy confirmed that the average cost of buying a refurbished bike was £70 for an adult bike and £40 for a child’s bike. The Chairman suggested an update on the success and activities of the Cycle Hub should be published in the Around the Royal Borough publication.

v  Action: the Communications and Marketing Team to contact Luke McCarthy and organise an update on the Cycle Hub’s activities and success in an upcoming issue of Around the Royal Borough.

A308 Braywick Road / Stafferton Way

The Principal Transport Officer explained that there was some funding that had been made available to implement a crossing at the Braywick Road and Stafferton Way and also improve visibility which was being reduced by overgrown plants. The crossing should be brought back in further towards Stafferton Way which would make it longer for cyclists but much safer. The proposals were to replace the informal crossing that was currently in place and there were two options on the table. The Principal Transport Officer invited views from Members over which crossing would be most suitable.

The Principal Transport Officer accepted that a raised crossing would be safer and that option B of the staggered crossing was the preferred option. The Chairman stated he took on board the raised pathway as an idea but, it was really about which option was best. Option B appeared to be the most preferred option and the Principal Transport Officer could ask the question to highways if the crossing could be raised. The staggered solution was probably the better option. Cllr Beer suggested going to site to have a look at the layout of the road and then circulate the preferred option to the Principal Transport Officer.

Hibbert Road

The Chairman stated that Ian Taplin had requested a sign warning drivers to look out for cyclists due to a concealed area. There was a general consensus that people did not want anymore signs put up. The Principal Transport Officer confirmed that if a sign was to go up, it would be a triangle warning sign. Members commented that anything which made drivers aware of shared road users was a good thing. The Chairman agreed to email the Principal Transport Officer requesting a warning sign that could then be forwarded to Ward Members for comment.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY That: a sign be added at Hibbert Road warning drivers of cyclists at both approaches.

Maidenhead Waterways

The Principal Transport Officer explained that the Borough was in the process of inviting developers to enter into joint ventures in terms of pedestrian and cycle routes. The Chairman said there were a number of bidders in Maidenhead who were giving  presentations to Members which would be assessed. The Chairman attended monthly meetings with the Waterways project and he would raise the profile of cycle routes at the meeting. He wanted to encourage people to use the tow path for cycling.

Engaging non-cyclists

This item was deferred to the next meeting

Motor vehicles passing cyclists too close

The Chairman said he was at a meeting in November 2016 and the Chief Constable was also there. The Chairman told him about the discussions which took place at the previous Cycle Forum regarding motorists passing cyclists too closely and that the passing distance should be 1.5m; the Chairman requested the Chief Constable to look into implementing something similar to the police force in the West Midlands. Thames Valley Police then contacted the Borough saying they would be introducing something similar in the area as it was on their agenda too. The Principal Transport Officer stated the scheme started in the West Midlands and had been very successful. West Midlands Police had also trained other police forces around the country. The Chairman stated that Thames Valley Police did recognise that there was a problem and that good solutions did come out of meetings such as the Cycle Forum; things did get done.

Susy Shearer stated the next draft of the Borough Local Plan was due to be published and she wanted a higher profile for the Cycling Strategy in it. The Chairman confirmed that the next draft would include an Infrastructure Delivery Plan and would take into account new roads as part of any new development. He added that it would look at possible routes which could be implemented and there was someone working on it as it would form part of the key evidence. The Chairman also added that he would make the point to the Head of Planning to make sure developments make space for cyclists on new roads.