Bricycles has asked all Brighton and Hove City Councillors to sign up to Space for Cycling which aims to improve the quality of life for all by making our streets and roads safer and more inviting for everyone to cycle. The main themes are:

1. Protected space on main roads and at junctions
2. Removal of through motor traffic on residential streets.
3. Lower speed limits. 20mph in villages and built-up areas. 40mph or lower on rural lanes.
4. Cycle-friendly town centres with people prioritised over motor traffic to create high streets that are economically viable and socially vibrant.
5. Routes through green spaces and parks
6. Safe routes to schools

The breakdown of Brighton and Hove City Councillors signed up to this essential 6-point commitment to cycling is as follows:

1   Conservative councillor

1   Labour councillor

17 Green councillors

There are 54 councillors in total. The map of Councillors signed up for Space for Cycling is at http://www.ctc.org.uk/campaign/space-for-cycling/space-for-cycling-your-councillors-views Click on Brighton on the map.

If you have not already written to your councillors, please do so through www.space4cycling.org.uk or contact them directly. If they don’t sign, please challenge them about why they haven’t! Let us know what happens.

More information in  Bricycles News103 including your suggestions for local improvements, and in Bricycles News102 

Stage 7 Route – Camberley to Brighton – on Saturday, 13/09/2014

Estimated times of arrival (subject to change):

The weather’s great for riding to work! Cycle to Work Day is a national event, championed by multi gold medal winning Paralympic cyclist, Dame Sarah Storey, which aims to encourage everyone to take to cycle to work on Thursday 4th September 2014. 

https://www.cycletoworkday.org/

Bricycles is a member of a new alliance challenging more roadbuilding on the A27/A259. The South Coast Alliance on Transport and the Environment has a website under construction at scate.org.uk  SCATE also have a new Facebook page at:
www.facebook.com/southcoastalliance and are on Twitter  @SCATE_A27_A259

There are some very biased online surveys about the A27 with leading questions and no awareness of cycling, buses, trains or alternatives to motor transport e.g. at: http://www.acesalliance.org/aces-blog. These will no doubt be used for lobbying.  Don’t let them use your money for destructive road schemes instead of investing in better alternatives!

East Sussex Chambers of Commerce and local politicians such as Eastbourne Conservative parliamentary candidate and Councillor Caroline Ansell are lobbying for money to be spent on an A27 upgrade. But Bricycles is in favour of a switch in funding to sustainable transport. It’s a better, healthier choice. We don’t want to see the South Downs National Park damaged by new roads.

Please ‘like’ Bricycles Facebook page www.facebook.com/Bricycles  for updates on this and other issues. 

Phase 2 of Brighton and Hove’s 20 mph speed reduction programme has made great progress. Traffic Regulation Orders for 20 mph  (and one for 30 mph) for the Phase 2 area were approved at Brighton and Hove City Council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability meeting on Tuesday 4 March.

It was also agreed that Speed Limit Orders will be advertised for the previously excluded roads of Preston Drove, Stanford Avenue and Surrenden Road. This followed a residents’ petition. The formal decision list is on the Council’s website. Once published, the Speed Limit Orders need to be supported.  

Bricycles welcomes the ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority following our complaint about the negative full page advert (left) which appeared in The Argus on 11/9/13 during Brighton and Hove’s crucial 20 mph consultation. The ad, placed by pro-motoring lobby group “Unchain the Brighton Motorist”  breached the code on misleading advertising and substantiation on 11 counts. This is the second ruling from the ASA on misleading advertising by the detractors of 20 mph speed limits. It is clear that the public was misinformed during a very expensive and important  local consultation but there is no financial penalty or other sanction for the authors and publishers of the misleading ads.  The group has been told not to repeat their claims, to ensure that they have evidence to substantiate future claims and to ensure that they are clearly identified in future ads.  The ad must not appear again in its current form. See 
http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2014/2/Unchain-the-Brighton-Motorist/SHP_ADJ_243394.aspx

20 mph speed reduction in Brighton and Hove is moving on to the next stage now that the Traffic Regulation Order proposals (TRO) have been published. Help to make your streets safer by supporting the TRO speed limit proposals, particularly for your local area. Check the accompanying information on the website for the order and ask for the inclusion of any street you feel has been omitted. Many residents signed a petition to have Preston Drove, Stanford Avenue and Surrenden Road in Preston reconsidered for 20 mph speed limits due to the large number of schools in the area. TRO-3d-2014 is the relevant order for Preston where this request can be made again.

Below are all 9 areas with their TRO reference numbers.
1. West Hove: TRO-3a-2014
2. Dyke Road West: TRO-3b-2014
3. Dyke Road East: TRO-3c-2014
4. Preston: TRO-3d-2014
5. Patcham and Hollingbury: TRO-3e-2014
6. Hollingdean and South Moulsecoomb: TRO-3f-2014
7. Coldean: TRO-3g-2014
8. Bevendean and North Moulsecoomb:TRO-3h-2014
9. East Brighton: TRO-3i-2014

There are also some other good speed reductions being advertised e.g.
Coldean Lane, 30mph limit TRO-3j-2014 and Ditchling Road, 40mph speed limit TRO-3k-2014

The GMB Union’s Brighton & Hove Taxi Section who ran the misleading ad referring to a “20 CITY WIDE BLANKET LIMIT”,  have been told by the advertising watchdog that the ad must not appear again in its current form.  The ad breached the code on misleading advertising and substantiation.  The GMB must also not in future refer to the proposed 20 mph limit as a “blanket” limit.
The ad appeared in Brighton and Hove Independent (free newspaper) on 27 September 2013.
But what damage did the misleading ad do to the consultation on 20 mph limits? Our communities in Brighton and Hove have potentially been denied a road safety benefit due to the influence of this inaccurate negative campaign.  Click here for full details of the ruling.