Dear <<First Name>> 

We had an odd couple of issues last month. Not only did some of you get in touch with us about this lorry, above, blocking the Head Street cycleway but, for the fortnight afterwards, people were complaining about the cycle lights not working at the High Street junction.

First, to the parked lorry, from which workers were unloading scaffolding to go up for repairs to the Coral Bookmakers building. We contacted Essex County Council but by the time we were in touch with anyone, the lorry had long gone.

It is unlikely that the scaffolding company had a licence to block the cycleway. One highways expert said: "I doubt very much that they had a licence. They'd have needed one – it's the same as blocking the entire street." We'll know for next time!

Second, a few days later emails began to come in about the cycle lights not working. Essex sent out an engineer who said: "There is no fault with the equipment but the scaffolding is stopping the signal sensor from working properly."

Fortunately the scaffolding was taken down very quickly, possibly at night, as no one reported the cycle lane being blocked again.

Much of the national press came out covered in, er, muck last month after right-leaning newspapers reported that the Department for Transport intended to narrow roads to make them safer for cyclists – and prevent drivers overtaking.

In fact the guidelines issued in a paper by Active Travel England, part of the DfT, simply pointed out that road widths of between 3.25m and 3.9m were dangerous for riders because they encouraged drivers to overtake when it wasn't suitable,  increasing the risk of "shunt" or "clip" collisions.

The Telegraph, Mail, Sun and Express seized on the issue and hyped it up. For all of a day, the "war on motorists" was in top gear and still over-revving.

It was all nonsense of course because the ATE advice will apply mainly to new roads but it took a lot of work from the DfT press office to force the lid back on the pot.

As one commenter on social media said: "Drivers reduce the width of roads anyway by parking at the kerbside."

Your newsletter editor was struck by how the Mail on Sunday converted the measurements to feet and inches, perhaps a sign that its readers still can't cope with metric.

Back to the ATE document, which identified 16 safety issues for cyclists and pedestrians, including conflicts at side roads, roundabouts and signalised junctions as well as traffic volume, traffic speed and footway width.

The aim is that highways engineers will use the list to evaluate proposed routes and identify dangers. It is intended for use with ATE's route link tool.

A full list of issues and explanations is presented here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/critical-safety-issues-for-walking-wheeling-and-cycling/critical-safety-issues-for-walking-wheeling-and-cycling

The ATE paper should prove handy when contesting planning applications where the applicant's consultant tries to claim that a particular route is suitable for cyclists when it is not.

• Sharpen your riding skills with a FREE course for adults from Essex county council. See https://www.essexhighways.org/safer-greener-healthier/safer-greener-healthier-cycling 

This is your chance to help fund the campaign. Thanks to Leon, Cath and two John or Jane Does for last month's donations.

If you use Leisure World on Cowdray Avenue you can now park your bike more safely.

The city's main leisure centre has long been a hot spot for bike theft but now the council has fitted a new ten-space cycle cage.

The facility is accessed via a code. Ask for details at reception. You will be emailed each time the code changes.

The second consultation is for the Local Plan, the document in which the city sets out where new homes are built and the infrastructure that will be needed. The plan is already well advanced but you can still have your say and it will cover up to 2040 [Ed: Gulp, I'll be 80 then]. 

Find the Essex survey here: https://consultations.essex.gov.uk/rci/ecc-budget-consultation-2026-27/. 

Find the Colchester Local Plan consultation here: https://www.colchester.gov.uk/local-plan/local-plan-review/ 

An ordinary house in an ordinary street. But what is different? The bike box!

This came to our attention thanks to Colchester council's planning list, in which a resident is making a retrospective application for a cycle store. 

The shed is already in place but the council has said the owner needs planning permission.

We are watching this matter keenly because elsewhere in Britain such front garden bike sheds have had to be torn down. 

It seems you can park cars in the drive, on the road, on the kerb – and keep your wheeled bins "out front" all week – and no one bats an eyelid. 

But put up a box to keep a bike in ... well, horrors, it's the end of civilisation as we know it.

We know of at least two other houses with no access to a back garden where the owners rely on bike boxes.

The campaign has supported the application, number 252040 of November 10. We'll let you know what happens.

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). 

Report highways issues, including potholes, failed traffic signals and overgrowth to Essex Highways here: https://www.essexhighways.org/tell-us

Remember to keep the 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. 

A big thank-you to Marks Tey parish councillors who have given their support to the cycling campaign's call for a new bike and footbridge to stretch over both the A12 and the A120.

This would replace the current set-up of a bridge over the A12 and a crossing over the A120.

The scheme is currently on ice following the cancellation of  plans for a new A12 ... but then National Highways were only going to install like for like anyway.

The best possible cycle infrastructure is needed given the pressure for housing growth in Marks Tey itself and the A120 corridor. The delay in plans for the A12 may actually work to our advantage.

There's already a similar bridge crossing two roads at different levels near Sunderland: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DX8Bqesw9fss9Gsy6

Extra videos have been added to the campaign's website page for the Northern Approaches. Thanks to Gary Eason for his review. See https://colchester-cycling.org.uk/northern.html

In other video news, Essex Highways is making progress with the A1331, the proposed link road between the A133 and the A120. The video starts at the new roundabout on the A133 between Essex University and Elmstead market. The cycleway on the left is part of the network that will serve this huge new development. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdWJYhbRtcM&t=189s

Our next Bike Meet is on Tuesday December 16. We haven't yet decided whether it will be in person or online. Please watch for the email which will be sent the weekend beforehand

"Mind-blowingly good" plans for new cycle lanes in central London: https://www.timeout.com/london/news/the-mind-blowingly-good-plans-for-new-cycle-lanes-in-central-london-111125

Not new, not news, but there is a wealth of data about the Netherlands here, which the UK must strive to reach. https://longreads.cbs.nl/the-netherlands-in-numbers-2023/where-can-we-ride-our-bikes/

Is St Botolph's Street on a fault line in the earth's crust? Are tectonic plates moving to squeeze these buildings together? Was St Bot's ever this wide?

The answers are no, no and yes – and the road is still that wide.

As cars turn into SUVs and pile on the pounds, the campaign feels it has to remind councillors and highways engineers that, yes, this road is wide enough for a contraflow cycle lane. You could deal with the narrow northern end of adjacent Queen Street by directing northbound cycles past Firstsite and on to High Street near the top of East Hill.

Oh, and if you are looking for cyclists in the early 1950s picture, there is one approaching the camera, just to the right of the car, and six in the middle distance where St Bot's roundabout is now.

The shop on the right is Shirley's, a ladies boutique, and next to it is Cramphorn's plants and pet food shop that later moved to Head Street. A few doors further down is Stead and Simpson's shoe shop (you can still see the name in the doorway). On the left there is an ironmongers with watering cans hanging up outside, and a Truman's pub on the corner of Priory Street.

You might not have been keeping up with what is happening in Ontario, Canada. Basically, Doug Ford, the prime minister, is trying to rip out bike lanes "to solve congestion". He is being opposed by Toronto cycling groups who won a major victory in July when a court ruled that the province's plan to remove three important bike lanes was unconstitutional. 

As in the UK, cycle lanes are controversial, hence the 2,000+ comments on this news story. If you're really keen, the latest development, as of last month, is here.

In the meantime someone posted this picture of a bike lane dress. Daniel Simone took to Bluesky to say that the dress "is so good, it it illegal in Ontario".

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• Closer to home, Ben House posted on Bluesky about how his 21yo daughter was finding her return to cycling from bussing to be a liberating experience. More here.

• There was also this factual post, below, from Will Norman, the London walking and cycling commissioner.

If you want to try leisure rides, Colchester Cycling Campaign recommends both Cycling For Pleasure and Happy Handlebars. Both clubs run a variety of events for people of different abilities. 

Cycling for Pleasure: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1594722180845186

Happy Handlebars: https://www.facebook.com/HappyHandlebarsColch

Other clubs and local routes to try: https://www.colchester-cycling.org.uk/maps-rides-clubs.html 

Colchester Cycling Campaign has lots of LOCAL cycling advice on its website. If you have a question, make our advice page your first port of call.

Visit https://www.colchester-cycling.org.uk/advice.html

... and still no news.

Have you signed the Colchester Cycling Charter yet? If not, please do. If you work or volunteer, please ask your organisation to sign too. The more people on bikes, the fewer traffic jams will snarl up our city.

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: Stuart Johnson
Vice-secretary: Will Bramhill
Treasurer: Catherine Johnson
Your committee: Alex Hooper, Chris Stevenson, Jean Quinn, Nathaniel Catchpole, Alan Spence, Kristin Bradley and Paul Byrne