Present: Gavin Clark, Rachel Martin, Michelle Shortt, Deema Aburizik, Fiona McDonald
Apologies: Martin Sharman
Welcome and introductions
Deema is new to the forum so we had some brief introductions.
Contact with city council
We currently have a quarterly meeting with two councillors and senior officers. This was set up after the last local election. It’s currently the best engagement we’ve had with the council in many years. It includes Ian Yuill and Miranda Radley. However, the meeting this quarter has been cancelled and councillors aren’t available to schedule a new time. The next scheduled meeting is May. If anyone wants to see the action list let us know and we can share it.
We also join the ACTUP meetings that happen regularly. At the last meeting we discussed Deeside Way and why it had been closed for so long without any communication. We also raised the question of winter treatment because it doesn’t get any ice treatment or snow clearing in winter – this has been the case for many years and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of change, despite it being the most heavily used route in the whole city. Another thing that came out of the meeting is the Aberdeen cycle map which is now out of date and for a while the council have been working on producing an online version but it’s taking a long time due to lack of priority. It was reported to the ACTUP meeting that Nestrans have now commissioned extra digital mapping support which may speed up production of the map, or may be connected to the development of their RATN (Regional Active Travel Network) – we’re not sure.
Regarding Union Terrace and Rosemount Viaduct – the recent proposed changes stem from complaints about the bus gates in the city centre. One request was to remove the no right turn at the end of Union Terrace as a concession to complaints. We understand the council then agreed at a meeting in October to remove the right turn ban. A new consultation relating to that has been taking place and Gavin has submitted some comments following feedback from regulars. Our position is we’re not in favour of it but we don’t intend to object. Francesco had pointed out that more traffic is now using Carden Place – Skene St and past some schools that no longer have safe crossings due to cost reductions. This may be because of the bus gates, or the LEZ, or both. Gavin noted that Professor Goodwin brought this issue up in his talk he gave us a couple of years ago and his point was if you make half-hearted measures like this then it just reroutes traffic rather than reduces it which is what the council is doing.
Consultations
- A96 – this is a short consultation about the latest proposals. We submitted some brief comments about the lack of proposals to improve active travel between communities, only within communities. We pointed out the need to transport bikes on buses and trains. It’s just a brief response to a questionnaire so there’s no formal response on our website.
- National speed limit – The Scottish government are consulting on reducing speed limits on all single carriageway roads from 60 to 50 miles/hour. They’re also going to increase the speed limit for some HGVs up to 50. It closes on the 5th March. Much of the success of a speed limit change depends on the communication with the public and how well that’s handled if the changes go ahead.
- The city council are now consulting on new locations for cycle parking in Aberdeen. This is through CommonPlace – an online map tool. You can find the location and drop a pin on the map then leave some comments. Gavin says we should put cycle parking in wherever there is high density housing and people are having to walk up stairs into flats. The installations at Seaton (4) are a start but the solution needs to be much more widespread. Cyclehoop bike hangers are being installed in large numbers in Edinburgh, Glasgow (200!) and Dundee and we have suggested this to the council numerous times but they seem reluctant. Deema suggests looking at bicycle theft incidents and using this data to promote cycle lockers – argue the business case because it’s likely wasting and costing police time. Gavin says he hasn’t seen any bicycle theft stats for a long time and we don’t have any engagement with the police. Deema says we could write to the police asking for the data – Fiona will write and try to get the data.
Events & activities
We floated last month what events and activities we might do this year. Rachel said someone wrote on the blog post about our litter pick from August 2023 beside the River Dee to say there’s heaps of litter there and can we come and do a clean up? Gavin said Golf Road near the beach is also really bad. There’s some overgrown vegetation on the footpath between Kingswells and Bucksburn. Michelle says they’ve done some pruning there recently. Michelle says another place that’s overgrown is from Dyce station where the Formartine and Buchan way starts. It’s very popular with dog walkers and cyclists.
Membership system update
We recently moved to a new system because the old system was very outdated. After the last reminder we got a small flurry of people joining and we’ll put out one more reminder. Gavin to send a broadcast newsletter in early March.
Fiona says we need to advertise our monthly meetings better. Could we use the new broadcast system to send reminders? Gavin says he has been trying to remember to put the date of the next meeting on the monthly newsletters, although the timing of those was variable. Fiona suggested a second email timed to go out in the week before the meeting, and including the link for the meeting.
We have noticed that some people who have signed up have opted out of ‘broadcasts’, which is the method we’ll be using for regular contact. Possible ways to resolve this were discussed.
Insurance
The insurance has renewed with the same company. It was £289. Rachel says she could organise a litter pick for the River Dee near the boat house for early March if anyone is interested. Gavin said he’ll go and check out the spot.
Any other business
Fiona shared a good tool that you can use to log rides and help build better infrastructure – https://www.lovetoride.net/scotland/pages/ltr-app?locale=en-GB
Next meeting is Tuesday 25th March. We will need alternate arrangements for the meeting as Rachel normally hosts but isn’t available on that date.
Aberdeen Cycle Forum 