Attendees: Gavin Clark (Chair), Rachel Martin, Michelle Shortt, Clemens von Schiffer, Manas Disoriya, Patrick Bennett, Martin Sharman, Laurie Rominger, Peter Jeffels, Calum Grant, Francesco Sani.
Welcome & Introduction
We have some new faces in the meeting tonight so we went through introductions.
Minutes of last meeting & matters arising
Minutes of the last meeting are online.
Cycle Advocacy Network
Aberdeen Cycle Forum has joined the Cycle Advocacy Network which is a cycle campaigning group created by Cycling UK – https://www.cyclinguk.org/can-scotland#:~:text=we%20would%20love%20to%20include%20it.
Insurance
We’ve been a bit restricted with the sorts of events we can run because we’re not insured and if anything goes wrong the office-bearers would be responsible. We have looked into insurance in the past but haven’t found anything satisfactory until now. Gavin contacted a specialist broker who helps Cycling UK with their insurance. They have come back with a quote and some different options and it’s around £250/year for us to be insured. We could sign up, give it a year, then reassess whether it was useful or gave us any benefits. 9 cycle forum members voted that it’s a good idea. Rachel asked whether it covers group rides and if there are restrictions i.e., are all participants required to give their details. Gavin will check.
Engagement with Aberdeen City Council
Our past / recent engagement has been a bit unsatisfactory. We’re currently engaged in the ACTUP – Accessible City Transport Users Partnership. From the November meeting, Rachel was very disappointed and felt the needs of cyclists with disabilities were completely ignored as were the benefits of cycling infrastructure to people on mobility scooters. Gavin pointed out the meeting had gone with the narrative that buses are bikes aren’t mutually exclusive. He’d done his best to point out that that there shouldn’t be a conflict between bikes and buses – we can have both. At the Nov meeting Gavin also asked for an update on our Make Aberdeen Accessible campaign results, which he had raised at the meeting in May. There was no update from the Chair and it seems nothing has been done with it.
Another meeting – City Centre and Beach Masterplan Stakeholder Group – Laurie attended this one and they talked about the results of their consultation and the big takeaway from responses submitted was that people wanted segregated cycling infrastructure. Despite this they said they were planning to recommend to the council the existing plan with priority for buses which is very disappointing.
Last week, Gavin and Rachel met with two Councillors from the administration: Ian Yuill who is a Liberal Democrat (Lib Dems) and is now co-leader of the council, and also Miranda Radley (SNP).It was an introductory meeting so not much came from it other than they’ve agreed to meet with us regularly, probably quarterly. Ian pointed out the cooperation agreement made between the SNP and Lib Dems which says all new road building projects to have segregated cycle paths. Rachel pointed out that there are no new roads being built in Aberdeen city so what does this mean? If it means road building projects that are new then that should apply to Union Street as well. Both Councillors were adamant that they support active travel, and safe segregated cycle paths and that they want to make a difference. We also discussed several other topics and have followed up by sending them the critique done by ACF members on the Tillydrone Avenue / Diamond Bridge scheme.
Michelle Shortt said in Bucksburn there are new roads going in but no segregated cycle paths.
Franceso says he’s contacted his councillor about Union Street.
Martin Sharman suggested we create some posters encouraging people to join ACF and to get involved. Martin said it’s quite hard to know what all the cycling organisations do as there’s some overlap and quite a few so if you’re new to Aberdeen you wouldn’t necessarily know. Gavin noted that there’s no “About us” page on the website. We could post something about our history and ten points of things we’d like to achieve for Aberdeen. Gavin said the meeting we had with councillors this time was just an introductory meeting so for next time we’ll pin down more specifics. Callum noted that a third of the population of Aberdeen are students and he’d be happy to distribute postcards on campus. Rachel said she’s put a heap on the counter at Foodstory cafe next to the coffee machine. Martin shared the Dundee manifesto – https://mobile.twitter.com/dundeecycling/status/1519214139826229249
In our meeting with Ian Yuill he said the decision at their December 14th meeting is just about the central part of Union Street not the east and west sections – this was different from what we’d previously understood. He also said they were planning to write back to people who had signed the postcards.
Community Empowerment – Participation Requests
The Community Empowerment Scotland Act 2015 is intended to empower communities. There are two aspects: communities who want to buy public sector assets. The other thing you can do is make a participation request in the case where you think a public service is not being run very well. Public bodies are then required to engage with you and discuss why you think things are not working. Gavin has intimated a request on Union Street because it’s a specific issue and despite all the feedback and consultations we’re not getting the outcome that we think is reasonable. The guidance says that before making a request you should discuss with the body. Gavin put in an informal request first but didn’t get an answer for two weeks – he had to chase it up. He eventually got a response from David Dunne who tried to suggest the process wasn’t intended for situations like this although we think it is intended exactly for situations like this.
Martin asked whether there are any restrictions on this process? I.e., can you go through the process an unlimited number of times. We’re not aware of any restrictions, but a subsequent request would have to be about something substantially different. Gavin noted there is no appeals process, but there is a defined timetable for the process and they are required to publish findings and whether any change resulted. Gavin is planning to get this in soon so it’s lodged before the December 14th council meeting.
Callum asked if we’ve ever done protests? Yes, we’ve done several – outside Marischal College, on Union street, and outside M&S in the past. Gavin suggested we could protest on the day of the meeting – 14th December, or on the preceding weekend. We’d decide on this once we’d seen the content of the report going to committee.
Consultations
The experimental traffic regulation order is on a few inner-city streets- eg., Schoolhill – but they’re all still experimental. Gavin sent some feedback: they need more meaningful enforcement. The window for service vehicles is from 4pm to 11:30am and covers both morning and afternoon commuting times which isn’t ideal.
At a national level there’s the National Policing Strategy – if anyone wants to take a look please send comments to Gavin.
National Cycling Framework – it’s up for comment again also. We’re not sure of the closing dates. [post meeting note – closes 19 December]
Any other business
We’ve been invited to speak at a Sustrans event in March 2023 – they want someone who cycles for the environment to go along and speak. If anyone is interested please talk to Gavin.
Cycling UK has been running a campaign on dashcam footage where people can submit footage of road incidents. Scotland doesn’t have it hence the Cycling UK campaign – https://www.cyclinguk.org/blog/dont-let-police-scotland-scrap-new-dashcam-safety-portal
Unintentionally, Gavin has been included meeting with Katka who is one of the iBike officers in Aberdeen – they are Sustrans cycle promotion people. Gavin had initially approached the The Ferryhill Community Centre over lack of bike racks, but they have also been speaking to ibike about running maintenance classes or events so he may now be involved in that discussion. [post meeting note – the meeting didn’t take place as scheduled]
Martin spoke about the Critical Mass rides – around 40 people who took part last Friday. It was the 3rd ride and a bit smaller this time compared with last time but lots of new people who hadn’t been before. Many students who were not aware of it and very keen to do it again. In January there’ll be an evolution of critical mass with possibly a new route. It’s still community-led and an incubator hub for ideas and networking of people who want to share information and work together for better cycling infrastructure.
Martin is also really keen on Kidical Mass – a ride for families – and bike buses. There’ll be a critical mass on 30th December. It may be smaller but still worth doing. Martin is also keen for a social ride mid-month.
Plaques – We still haven’t found anyone to fix the plaques to our artwork. We’ve tried a cordless drill and glue but neither worked. Martin is going to try and if he has no luck we’ll pay someone.
We were contacted by someone from The Udny Community Trust as Aberdeenshire Council are thinking of putting in some bicycle repair stations along Formatine and Buchan Way and wanted to get feedback on suitable locations. We will suggest Udny station where the old platform is – wide and a good place to stop – and just north of New Machar where there are picnic tables.
Francesco asked what the response after the last critical mass was like as there was some good publicity. Martin said we have a great relationship with Keiren from the P&J who is very supportive of cycling and has been using the new electric hire bikes.
Martin says there’s an application through “Shift” which provides funding and training to be a cycle training instructor. They provide up to £1500. https://www.cyclinguk.org/shift
Manas says the Shift funding is a really good opportunity. It’s particularly good for the cycle leader course. Regarding the Big Issue eBikes, they’re really expensive and not good for students. There are also safety issues where a cargo van comes in and picks up and drops off bikes. For repair stations – the tools tend not to be that good and don’t survive in the rain. Manas says the newly designed ones are much better but they should be covered from the elements.
Winterising (gritting) Martin said there’s a policy document on how they grit paths in Aberdeen that was agreed in 2013. Gavin noted this is a long running issue and we think the prioritisation for gritting is poor. When presented to Councillors for a decision recently on 2022/23 gritting, Cllr Kate Blake challenged them on why they haven’t consulted with active travel representative bodies, and although the 2022/23 programme went through, there is an undertaking to consult more widely ahead of next year (2023/24) .
Date of next meeting (provisionally 31 January).
We don’t usually have a December meeting, but there will still be the opportunity for a social meet and/or ride if enough interest. Francesco’s planned social meet/ride in November had been postponed due to weather so he said he’d look for another date.
Aberdeen Cycle Forum 