The Cycle Revolution store in Peartree Road, Colchester |
Fee-fi-fo-fum! Giant UK poised to step in to save Colchester bike shop and sister store |
Giant UK, the British arm of the Taiwanese bikemaker, has announced that it is to take over Thomas's Cycle Revolution, the family company that has stores in Colchester, Norwich and Ipswich.
Giant Group told CCC News that it is looking forward to deliver its service "with the same friendly, knowledgeable staff that customers know and trust".
It said: "Our goal is to bring cycling and community to life in each location and help these stores become hubs where the local cycling community can come together, grow and thrive.
"We will be offering everything from everyday bikes to high-performance machines and creating expert-led, welcoming spaces for all cyclists." |
|
Thomas's ran into financial trouble and in February it looked to appoint administrators to stave off liquidation. At the time, Darren Thomas, the firm's director, told the Daily Gazette: "This is a testing time for everyone." The campaign contributed to that story, explaining how cycle retail was suffering in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic sales boom. Thomas's started in 1984 and it opened in Peartree Road in 2012. Giant makes a full range of bikes and has 32 stores across Britain. Its Liv brand, "designed by women for women", has a strong and growing reputation. |
National rules on way about bike parking in new homes |
Active Travel England has told the campaign that it is to issue an advice note on cycle parking for new homes.
This follows our email to the agency in which we said that the lack of rules for domestic cycle parking is a flaw in Cycle Infrastructure Design (LTN 1/20), especially as the current "sheds and garages" principle does not work. |
Simple hoops attached to a wall in a "covered way" beside a house would improve cycle parking at home |
Our proposal involves greater use of bike hangars, shared cycle parking at the front of homes, better-designed garages and parking in "covered ways" at the side of homes.
Guy Boulby, the head of investment at ATE said: "We will ensure that [your guidance] is considered as part of development of the advice note."
|
Chris Stevenson is the new campaign secretary |
Chris becomes campaign secretary |
The campaign is delighted that "happily retired" Chris Stevenson will be our secretary for the next 12 months. Chris, who lives in West Bergholt, was Essex county council's head of network development for three years from 2017 and before that was head of commissioning for integrated transport.
Founder member Will Bramhill moves from being secretary to chairman, while Stuart Johnson steps back from the chair but stays on the committee. Thank you for all your hard work over the past few years, Stuart!
The full list of officers and committee members is at the bottom of every newsletter. |
Brick Kiln Lane marked in red |
Brick Kiln Lane path to open this month |
Work is well under way on the Brick Kiln Lane path, which goes from Station Car Sales on Station Way to Alan Palmer Way on the former Cowdray Centre site (shown in red on the map above).
The route is being improved as part of section 106 funding from Persimmon's Castellum Grange development. The path is expected to open this month. Note that the tunnel beneath the railway from Alan Palmer Way to Petrolea Way and Peto Avenue has remained open.
Essex county council has taken over negotiations with Network Rail over straightening the kink to the south of the tunnel. We understand that the talks are active and hope for a resolution soon. |
The lane as seen from Station Way. The route will tie into the north-south cycle route; a digger works on the western end of the path, below |
The eastern end of the path near the tunnel to Petrolea Way. Make no mistake, this is hilly, possibly due to the mountain of locomotive ash dumped in the days of steam.
When the railway came to Colchester it had two stations next to each other (the second adjacent to Brick Kiln Lane) and passengers were expected to get off the London train and walk across the road to catch another company's train towards Ipswich.
Alternatively they could stay the night at the station hotel. This later became the Eastern Counties Asylum and was demolished in the late 1980s. |
Beware Johnny Lightfingers, he's a determined thief |
News reaches us that a thief has taken an expensive Genesis bike from the new locker at Leisureworld. He or she found a way to beat the security measures to snip through a cafe lock on the specialist audax machine.
Colchester council took immediate action after seeing the thief's modus operandi on CCTV.
The lesson is clear: if you value your bike, always use a high-quality D-lock, no matter how secure the parking arrangements. |
Colchester Cycling Campaign uses Email Octopus to create this newsletter. If you would like to do the same for your organisation please use this link https://emailoctopus.com/?urli=XN4MS. The campaign and the new group each get a "new joiner" benefit of 15 USD (about £12). |
Dott bike hires were running at 1,000 a day in early winter |
Dott bike scheme gains traction |
Colchester city council has announced changes to the Dott ebike hire scheme, including an end to "ride and drop" in favour of 500 new parking locations to help keep streets clear. The bikes will be available across more of Colchester and there will be a seasonal scheme in Mersea. The campaign has suggested that Dott also works to widen the age range of its users by holding car-park taster sessions for over-45s and over-60s, which will let more people become familiar with the app. More details here. |
Plans go in for garden community |
Plans have been submitted for the 7,750 homes at the Tendring and Colchester garden community.
This is going to be a huge job to wade through the details and comment on transport issues. If anyone would like to help, please email admin@colchester-cycling.org.uk.
Details are here and the planning papers can be seen here – search for plan number 260386. The development will be three walkable neighbourhoods including schools and a civic centre while the rapid transit system will offer connections to the city centre, hospital, railway station and the park and ride at Northern Gateway.
The development will feature more than 50 per cent open space, 30km of mature hedgerows will be kept, and there will be a 60-hectare country park (roughly a third the size of High Woods country park). |
|
Report highways issues, including potholes, failed traffic signals and overgrowth to Essex Highways here: https://www.essexhighways.org/tell-usRemember to keep the record number of your complaint. If you record lots of issues it may be worth starting a personal spreadsheet giving details of location, reference number, dates and results. |
Next Bike Meet: Tuesday April 21 |
The next Bike Meet is on Tuesday April 21 at 8pm. Please look out for an email closer to the time. |
New guidance on making streets safer for women and girls.
|
|
You can't park there mate! A cyclist passes a crashed bus on the road to Bures, probably in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Note that the rider has three buckets on his handlebars plus a large bag. He might have been a window cleaner but then again, judging by the epaulettes, he seems to be in uniform. |
Social media post of the month |
Paris, London and now Brussels - the number of utility cyclists is booming across the continent. The latest area to report success is Flanders where one in four people now cycle to work compared with one in eight 20 years ago. Slow progress, yes, but it is progress and it is nearly all down to safer infrastructure.
|
Try a ride in good company |
Don't bin me... pass me on |
Feel free to pass on this newsletter via email and social media by using the link at the very top ... and encourage your friends to join the campaign so they receive their own copy every month. |
Chairman: Will BramhillSecretary: Chris StevensonTreasurer: Catherine Johnson Your committee: Alex Hooper, Stuart Johnson, Jean Quinn, Nathaniel Catchpole, Alan Spence, Kristin Bradley and Paul Byrne |
|
|
