Dear <<First Name>> 

More cycling and walking money is coming to Essex, with the county winning £24.7mn, the sixth-highest award in England.

The funds are for the financial years 2026-27 to 2029-30 and cover both capital and revenue costs.

Only West Midlands (£36mn), Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Kent, and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough received a better settlement.

However, will that sum meet what is needed to velorutionise local transport?

Will Bramhill, the campaign chair, said: "While we are grateful to Pam Cox MP for pressing for cycling cash and we are delighted to see new funds set aside for active travel – we still don't think it's enough.

"This sum works out at £6mn a year across a county of 1.6mn people. By comparison the 2km link road between the A133 and A120 is costing £186mn – infrastructure in Britain is hugely expensive. 

"When Andy Burnham's government is setting its transport budget, it needs to bear in mind that the cost to society of trips by car is close to £1 per kilometre. On the other hand, every kilometre travelled by bike yields a gain for society of 60p thanks to the health benefits of cycling, transport efficiency gains, and lower infrastructure spending. The cost-benefit analysis is hugely in favour of walking and cycling."

Will said that cycling campaigners nationally are wondering whether Chris Boardman, the Manchester cycling tsar, will have a role in the Department for Transport. 

"That would be amazing," he said. "Chris puts across complex ideas in a way even the most hardened motorista understand. It's hard to say no to his logic."

The campaign is now waiting for the Reform administration in Chelmsford to say how and where the £24.7mn will be spent. We expect to know more once the Local Plan transport evidence and the new Essex Local Transport Plan have been published, which should be soon.

Read the detail on the allocations here.

• Andy Burnham has unveiled his new transport department with Heidi Alexander staying on as transport secretary. The transport minister is Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill and the junior ministers are Justin Madders, Keir Mather and Simon Lightwood

Find an online cycling map of Colchester here or pick  up a paper version from the Town Hall or the city council's Rowan House in Sheepen Road. Please practise a new route with your child so they are familiar with it before "back to school day".

Troops from Colchester-based 3 Para have used electric bikes on exercise in Canada. We bet they're not pedal assisted! Full story here. 

Meanwhile to prove there's nothing new under the sun, below is a bicycle regiment on parade in Colchester in roughly the 1890s. The sight of a host of soldiers on penny-farthings coming towards you must have brought terror to the enemy.

Any cycling infrastructure has to be welcomed, right? Well, er, no. 

While this installation on the south side of Tollgate West, Stanway, is plenty wide enough and the junction design is good, pedestrians and cyclists are still separated by only a lick of thermoplastic. 

This method is frowned on by LTN 1/20, the Department for Transport guidance manual for planners. 

The problem, as anyone who cycles will know, is that pedestrians will stray over the white line. We all want to minimise conflict so better demarcation, for instance a kerb or step, should have been used.

But is that a big deal? Yes it is if we are trying to build on cycling's potential as an option for short journeys and increase cycle usage to near Dutch levels.

LTN's tenet is that cycle routes should be coherent, direct, safe, comfortable and attractive ... and a gaggle of schoolchildren five abreast and in your way will put paid to that.

We assume that these routes were approved before LTN 1/20 really took effect in about 2022 and we hope to see better in future. Certainly we'd like to see cyclist priority over the Tollgate roundabouts that these paths serve.

Please mark this date in your diary to visit a drop-in event to discuss the changes at St Botolph's Circus with representatives from Jackson civil engineering.

The finished project will be far, far better for people who walk and cycle, and will improve access from Mersea Road and New Town, as well as providing a surface crossing from Abbeygate Street and the Abbeyfield area – avoiding the tortuous Scheregate subway.

The St Botolph's event will take place at St Botolph's Church, St Botolph's Street, this Thursday, 2.30pm to 6.30pm.

The nearest cycle parking is in Priory Street car park (just beyond Markhams pawnbrokers) and on the corner of St Botolph's Street and Osborne Street. 

In recent weeks, engineers have carried out enabling works on the roundabout, and these have included surveys and setting up a site compound. More visible works will be under way soon.

For more information about the St Botolph's Circus regeneration, visit www.essexhighways.org/st-botolphs-circus. To receive regular updates on the works email colchestercitycentre@essexhighways.org.

Each newsletter costs us just under £10 a pop. The campaign doesn't charge for membership: it relies on donations. Please help us reach more people by "buying us a coffee".

Good news for everyone who likes cycling on country lanes ... and wishes it was safe for their children to ride to school, which is often some distance away or on the edge of the nearest town or city along 60mph roads.

The Department for Transport has issued the snappily named Rural Design Guide for Active Travel. 

Combined with an expected new slant on speed limits, this manual will begin to shape the countryside for children who are currently twinkles in their parents' eyes.

In his introduction, Chris Boardman writes: "Creating attractive options in rural areas for daily tasks might be challenging, but it also brings new opportunities."

Perhaps we can start close to home with a Boxted-Nayland link and a route to connect Manningtree station with Dedham and Flatford. 

Who knows, we may one day have long-distance commuting routes such as this.

We need more women! Christopher (never Chris!) Blomeley is pulling together plans for a Colchester Glow Ride in October and needs your assistance.

Glow rides will be run across the country in at least 60 towns and cities to promote safer cycling for women. The events are being organised by Cycling UK, the national cycling charity.

"We believe cycling should feel liberating, not intimidating," Cycling UK said. "Right now, nine in ten women feel afraid to cycle in towns and cities and that needs to change.

"Women make half as many trips by bike as men, and are more likely to be put off cycling by the fear of busy traffic or harassment.

"Women shouldn’t feel forced to choose between a busy road and a dark isolated path. There should be a route that feels safe and welcoming. This isn’t just about transport – it’s about equality, opportunity and giving more people the freedom to ride."

If you can help Christopher with the Colchester event please email christopherb@colchester-cycling.org.uk 

Your support can make a real difference. 

The campaign regularly comments on planning applications in Colchester. Among those we've dealt with in the past few weeks are:

• Homes and a care home west of Brook Street

• 350 homes in Copford

• A community centre next to the Camulos Academy and opposite Sainsbury's in Mile End 

• Seasonal containers that will impinge on the cycle path and footway into Sainsbury's Tollgate

You can see the full list of our comments on major schemes here 

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 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. 

Bike Meet is taking a summer break and the next one will take place in September. Unfortunately the July meeting had to be cancelled at short notice – sorry about that.

• An ebike seized and destroyed ... but it was a legal machine and the owner is counting the cost. https://tinyurl.com/ycppe7vr. Cycling UK later issued this update: https://tinyurl.com/msntdda8. Colchester Cycling Campaign has written to Essex Police to check its roadside test is more sophisticated.

• Thanks to Dr Elmer Van Der Hoek for sending us this splendid piece from Momentum magazine, looking at how cycling can sustain mental health. https://momentummag.com/what-a-mega-study-of-87-different-studies-reveals-about-cyclings-impact-on-mental-health-mood-and-more/

• Four major cities spent 30 years figuring out how to get more people cycling. Here is what actually worked. https://tinyurl.com/3mw3u238

This is the town side of North Station, Colchester, in 1909 but can you spot the cyclist? The horse-drawn vehicle labouring up the hill is actually a corporation bus. Look closely and you will see two bikes neatly stored on the roof. We assume the cyclists were inside, ready for a journey to London or Ipswich. 

This is a handy link to tuck away if anyone ever confronts you with the age-old question: why don't cyclists use cycle lanes? YouTuber Cycling366 explains all, clearly and logically. There are some horrors in this video. Fortunately recent Essex cycleways have been better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8K0nG2mFm8

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

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