You may already be aware of the government’s CWIS (Cycling & Walking Investment Strategy) which is now at the draft stage and open for comment. The consultation closes on 23 May, so it should be possible for all members to have their say, which can be done by using the on-line survey, using the e-mail address supplied or by normal post. You can view the documents and make your views known here.
Category Listing: News
Sheet level crossing to remain open
Mike Ashton previously reported plans for Sheet level crossing that included the possibility of complete closure.
Mike has obtained a copy of this letter from Network Rail that announces the level crossing will remain open and that the half-barriers will be replaced by full barriers.
Butser Cutting update
You might be aware that work at the south section of the route has stalled because of issues with the slope up from the Queen Elizabeth Country Park car park to the new path.
This document is the proposal to Hampshire County Council to spend the extra money necessary to complete the route.
This document is the record of the approval given by the relevant executive member to the extra spend.
So it looks like the path will be completed. It will be a while, however, before we get a reliable completion date.
Father's Day family outing and charity ride on Hayling
We're keen to encourage young cyclists. Well Havant Rotary are organising a Father's Day family outing and charity ride, on Sunday, June 19th, 2016. It starts from Northney Farm Field (opposite the Tea Rooms), then south down the Billy Trail to the beach, and back again for a barbecue and bouncy castle. If you know any children or grandchildren, it's a great way to get them riding - or adults, come to that. And prostate cancer is a very appropriate charity for Father's Day.
Riders set off after registering and collecting their free T-Shirt at Northney Farm Field from 10 am. At the end of the ride there is a BBQ and activities back at the field. Alternatively, you can picnic if you wish to bring your own food.
Find out the answers to our quiz! No racing is involved so you have time to enjoy the ride and at the same time be sponsored to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK and Havant Rotary‘s local Charities, or you can choose to donate your sponsorship money to your own charity.
This is a fun day for families who want to have an enjoyable day out with their children and bikes. The 12 mile ride should take about 2 hours at a family-friendly pace (but you can turn round at any point along the way if it's too difficult!). Why not get your wider family and friends to join in and make a real day of it?
Entry is only £12.50 for one adult and a child (under 18) and includes a free T-shirt. Additional children are £2.50 each to cover the cost of the T-shirt. When you complete the entry form don’t forget to let us know the sizes of T-shirt you need!
Fuller details are on the Rotary website at events.havantrotary.org.uk or on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/502724423247667/
CTC is now known as Cycling UK
The national CTC organisation (of which Portsmouth CTC is a member group) is changing its public image to be more effective in campaign work. It now calls itself 'Cycling UK' and will campaign under the brand 'We are Cycling UK'. The CTC logo will be replaced by this image…
Rationale for the Centurion Way extension
Gilbert brings our attention to the following letter to the Chichester Observer explaining the logic behind the Centurion Way extension which ends in a cul-de-sac...
We are pleased to hear that people are enjoying the recent extension to the Centurion Way between Lavant and West Dean.
We appreciate that there is some frustration that it doesn't yet offer an off-road route into West Dean and thought it would be helpful to clarify the current status and next steps as part of our long-term ambition to bring the route all the way to Midhurst. The recent path extension which opened in December was made possible thanks to funding from the Department for Transport. As this funding was time limited we considered it best to carry out agreed construction works at once even though this would result in a dead end as we had not yet identified a means of providing access to the village.
We have been working in partnership with landowners and the local community to resolve this issue and are confident that we will find an acceptable solution in the near future.
In the meantime we've installed information panels and fingerposts at Binderton to alert users that access to the village remains via the route adjacent to the A286.
We are asking that people using the path respect the privacy of adjacent landowners. Trespassing on their land is not only unlawful but could jeopardise ongoing discussions and erode goodwill as we try to find a long-term solution.
We will continue to develop the Centurion Way as and when funding becomes available as part of our vision to develop a network of core shared paths across the National Park.
We are grateful for the support of the Edward James Foundation, owners of the West Dean Estate, for their continued support and look forward to working with landowners, tenants and communities to reach a a solution. For further information about the Centurion Way project, please contact info@southdowns.gov.uk
Andrew Lee
Director of strategy and partnership
South Down National Park Authority
2015 CTC Photo Competition results!
Here are the results of the 2015 Photo Competition held at Bedhampton Hall last night, 26th Nov. It was for a group of 6 photos, at least one of which had to include 'cycling'.
1st was Keith Wileman, number 13.
2nd was Wilf Forrow, number 4.
3rd was Martine Hebblethwaite, number 11.
You can see the pictures at: https://picasaweb.google.com/107860504705085729694/2015CTCPhotoCompetition?authkey=Gv1sRgCL7gn6S0-bma7wE#slideshow/
Many thanks to Pat, for organising it, and to Sue for judging, and for passing on some great insights. Please feel free to contact Pat for more information.
Emsworth cycle projects
The following has recently been sent by the Transport & Implementation Team based at Havant Borough Council as their November’s update regarding the various cycle infrastructure projects in Emsworth. Click either entry to find out more about:
Live projects
Havant Road A259: we have now resurfaced the former red cycle lanes, this was completed yesterday (18 Nov). We have already received positive feedback about the ride quality of the new lanes, although we have had to follow the old kerb lines which in places have sunk from their original level! Although some of the line painting was able to be done earlier today (for safety reasons we started with repainting the ‘give way’ markings across the side road junctions), we need dry weather to complete this; currently the intention is for the line painting to re-start on Saturday (weather permitting) which will involve painting the cycle lanes themselves. These will now be generally 1.5m wide, up from the original 1.1 – 1.2m; this will serve to visually narrow the road and assist in helping users to observe the 30mph speed limit. The red anti-skid (which will now only be placed in short lengths across junctions and crossings) might have to follow early next year as this requires consistently drier weather. We are now concluding work in the Barn Close area, building the new larger central island which we had to leave until now to assist with the traffic management during the resurfacing operation which took up to half the road width. We expect to broadly finish this by the end of next week. We will then fall back along the whole length of the job, clearing and tidying as we go. Additional road signs will be installed in the new year, linking through to the new route recently opened at Warblington School and so on into Havant.
Emsworth Station: the double deck 24-space cycle parking shelter installation onto the concrete slab we cast in October is expected to be completed by the end of the month. We then need to erect fencing around the shelter and it is expected to be open to the public in early December. When complete there will be a total of 48 stand spaces available at the station, compared with 18 previously. The environmental mitigation works (including a new information / interpretation board) agreed with the Emsworth Waysides Group for the northern site will be installed once the new shelter has been completed. The path to access the station subway on the north side will be widened to 2.5m and converted to ‘shared’ status once the shelter is in place.
Selangor Avenue / Victoria Road / Emsworth Primary School: apart from route confirmation signs along these roads, this scheme is complete.
Projects in design
The following projects are in various stages of design, with implementation planned during 2016.
Emsworth – Rowlands Castle cycle link: this is a new scheme to create a waymarked off road cycle friendly route between Hollybank Lane and Rowlands Castle through Hollybank Woods and Southleigh Forest. The route, which is intended to link National Cycle Network (NCN) route 2 in Emsworth with NCN22 at Rowlands Castle, involves targeted upgrades of existing paths and bridleways, signposting and route marking.
Horndean Road toucan crossing and Recreation Ground links: this is an upgrade to the existing crossing point at St James School. Design continues on this new facility; HCC has now provided the draft toucan layout so we are now able to work up the scheme in detail to link it to the wider network. This will include the signposting of a ‘quiet route’ link between Bellevue Lane and New Brighton Road via Christopher Way and Fairfield Close, providing a connection from the east to the new crossing point, as well as work within the Recreation Ground to widen the east and south side paths to create up to 3m wide shared routes. The scheme is planned to be built in the school summer holiday period in 2016.
Interbridges Link: we have reached agreement in principle with the relevant parties to implement proposals for a new east-west link between Washington Road and New Brighton Road, using land between the railway and the A27. This link will connect both into the new Station cycle parking area and the Interbridges junction, and by converting the verge on the east side of New Brighton Road (north of the Horndean Road junction) to shared status we will have achieved a quiet / off road route between Westbourne and Emsworth. Following a review of contractual arrangements and efficiency of delivery, it has been decided that this work is best done at the same time, and within the same contract, as the other work in the Recreation Ground and with the toucan crossing (i.e. summer holiday period 2016).
Havant’s Engineering Works Team are carrying out further work in North Street (currently outside Tesco), widening and improving the crossing points at the two junctions with Palmers Road. The remainder of the proposed works have been paused in case anything that comes out of the North Street Urban Design Consultation being run by Emsworth Forum conflicts with what we had planned to do.
Other Emsworth projects, including comprehensive and consistent waymarking of all the new routes through the network, will progress throughout the next year.
Please be aware that any future work may be adjusted in terms of scope and time scales.
Roger's scary video of Machu Picchu
Roger Carradus has 
been mountain biking in Peru, and found time to take this fabulous video - as shown at the AGM. It's a bit scary if you're only used to cycling on flat roads without suspension, fat tyres and disk brakes, but spectacular scenery and beautifully produced - well worth 5 minutes of your time.
Billy Trail closure
I've received this from Steve Mountain, the chap who is managing the repair work to the Billy Trail...
The Trail will be closed south of the Oysterbeds / Esso car park for up to 3 weeks to allow repairs to be undertaken to a section of the Trail damaged by storms in 2014.
P T Contractors from Southampton have been appointed to carry out the works which will see 110m of timber revetment built to protect eroding clay banks alongside the popular Trail. After the works are complete, temporary fencing which has been erected to prevent users for getting too close to the sheer drop into the Harbour can be removed. The works are funded by Hampshire County Council.
The closure is to allow heavy lorries and other plant to access the working site safely. Whilst recognising the temporary inconvenience the closure will cause, the public are asked to be patient and to respect the closure which is after all for their protection.
I've heard from various sources that the work is due to start on 16th November.
This won't, however, be the end of the erosion problems. Instead, the work will restore the protection to the same as it was before the 2014 storms. We can expect the problems to return over time.