Cllr Bell – Newcastle Cycling Campaign

On yer bike, Pat, for Newcastle

5th January 2016 Katja Uncategorized

Faithfully, since our foundation in 2010 I have been writing incisive (German!) messages, casting back and looking ahead. You are not spared this tradition at the start of 2016. On this occasion, it is a message that describes how council have been successfully scratching the surface. They are trying. So much so that council may have almost convinced some of you into thinking Newcastle is actually moving into a more sustainable transport direction with people, not cars, at the heart. To me, having observed and examined council’s goings-on for more than five years, this however only feels like tactics. Or[…]

Cllr Ged Bell – quotes

21st October 2015 NewCycling Politics

Added 21 October from Bikelife report: “Enabling Newcastle to be the best place it can be, with everyone having access to opportunities, is central to our ongoing success. We want parents and carers to feel safe letting their kids bike to school, and older people to feel able and confident enough to get about on two wheels. By designing space that works for young and old, we are ensuring it works for everyone.” Source Space for Cycling ride, 25 April 2015, Newcastle “I love cycling, I always have done and I will continue to love cycling. What we need to do[…]

Civic Ride 2015 – on the day

26th April 2015 NewCycling Uncategorized

Speeches – transcripts and video Peter Macdonald – welcome video – 00:00:30 Katja Leyendecker – Space for Cycling video – 00:01:30 Peter Macdonald, Ride Coordinator video – 00:07:00 Cllr Marion Talbot, Cycling Champion video – 00:17:00 Cllr Ged Bell, Cabinet Member video – 00:18:30 Photos in our flickr group Thanks Claire Prospert start here Duncan Buckingham start here Peter Wesolowski start here Other contributors will be added here as they are uploaded to flickr Thanks @TeessideCyclist for taping! Peter Macdonald – welcome Good morning everyone Welcome to was going to be our third Civic Ride around Newcastle which unfortunately has now transpired into our first ever Civic Stand[…]

Political support mapped

26th July 2014 Katja Uncategorized

LATEST WARD MAP WILL BE POSTED HERE No doubt you remember Space for Cycling and our Big Toon Ride, so after all that… we thought we better give you a quick update. We previously reported via a press release that we did fantastically well nationally – Newcastle showing the highest support rate outside London. But how does it look locally, on ward level? We have crunched the numbers for you and here’s a quick visualisation too. At the time of writing (last updated 8 August 2014), we have 40 Councillors in support for Space for Cycling. This is 51% of[…]

Gosforth High with real vision

6th June 2014 NewCycling Uncategorized

Council are deliberating on the future for Gosforth High Street by looking at the hundreds of consultation responses they received. Here is what should have happened. You may recall, there were two options to pick from, and two options only. We understand that this was decided by the Cabinet member responsible, Cllr Ged Bell. Out of these we supported Option 2 – a two-way cycleway – A more innovative approach over the traditional share-the-road-with-buses proposal. Above all, we supported the principle of setting-aside of road-space for cycling. And we heavily caveated our response which you can read here. We do[…]

Management Committee Meeting

30th March 2014 Katja Uncategorized

Following the excellent, energetic and energising AGM, we will discuss opening up the Committee meetings to members – the frequency, locations and format of the previously held Quarterly Members Meetings may change. Check the events section for public members meetings. This time we are joined by Cllr Ged Bell (cabinet) and Cllr Marion Talbot (cycle champion) to discuss the outlook for cycling improvements in Newcastle, and what can be expected to happen in 2014/15. There is a bit of ground to break and gaps to bridge. We are welcoming Ged’s and Marion’s offer to meet the Committee as there is[…]

Chair of the Campaign addresses Newcastle Council

9th July 2013 Claire Uncategorized

Three years after handing in the Safe Cycling Petition to the Council, Katja Leyendecker addressed the full Council again. This time, it was to take stock and review progress. Some good things have happened – in particular the commitment to create strategic cycling routes to the city centre, but Katja made it clear that we have yet to see any concrete improvements on the ground. Physical improvements to our roads that will enable everybody, women, kids and elderly people to use a bicycle as a means of transport and get around safely. These are the improvements that the 800 people[…]

Katja addressing full council

3rd July 2013 NewCycling Uncategorized

Thank you Lord Mayor I stood here in the same spot almost three years ago in 2010 – I hope some of you might remember that occasion. I was recently reminded of just how much cycling is an important local issue when I read in the Chronicle the good news that Gateshead Council is investing £1.5m to make it easier for people to visit their new Trinity Square by bike. This route is crucial as it represents the connection between Gateshead and Newcastle. When I stood here three years ago I presented a petition to Council asking for your political[…]