(News Item written by Stefano…apologies for spelling errors etc. …Jean is on holidays)
The LCC has started in ernest to consult all members on what we want to be the single major election promise that we want to receive from potentially all mayor candidates.
The process for selecting the single issue campaign is going to be the following:
We are asked to comment on 3 Themes selected by the LCC board and enrich them with specific measurable demands (asks) . We can also suggest other themes (with their specific demands) These themes from all the groups will then go back to the LCC board and 3 will be selected and go back to all the members to feedback on the most appropriate. The board will make the final decision based on the recommendation from the members.
The three themes suggest by the LCC board are
- Getting Children Cycling
- Creating Space for Cycling (modal shift for sub-2 mile journeys)
- Cycling as a tool for urban renewal/better `places
At the Camden Cyclists meeting of April 18 we have discussed these and other suggestion at length and we have come up with a different list which includes number 3 above.
Please note that each proposal should fulfil the following criteria
Political
Single Issue (within a wider manifesto): a readily-comprehensible `ask’ that can’t easily be fudged.
Ambitious: something that will involve high levels of political will and/or resource.
Achievable: something that can realistically be achieved, with will, within one mayoralty.
Cross-Party: something for which LCC can find champions across all major parties.
Public
Positive: speaks to people’s sense of what they desire/believe in/aspire to.
Exciting: a theme that is capable of generating a buzz across LCC’s membership and beyond.
Inspirational: an issue that stimulates take-up beyond LCC’s ranks.
Organisational
Policy: an issue in tune with LCC’s – and the wider sector’s – priorities (e.g. beyond London).
Active: something that will inspire, or can be used to inspire, much higher activism levels in LCC. Attractive: a platform for substantially increasing membership.
Fundable: an issue amenable to fundraising, from appeals to sponsorship/major donors.
These are the three themes with specific demands (asks) that we have come up with at the meeting
- Upgrade the Cycle Superhighways within the next mayoral term to the highest international standards of cycle infrastructure.
- Cycling as a tool for urban renewal/better `places
- Sustainable commuting hours
Here is an explanation for our proposals and how they fulfil the criteria:
1) Upgrade the Cycle Superhighways within the next mayoral term to the highest international standards of cycle infrastructure.
Originally proposed by David Arditti, this was our favourite theme. It is very clear. It targets one of the principal developments that we have seen in London and asks the candidates to promise to transform what is a good idea (Cycle Superhighway from outer into inner London) into a real asset for London rather than the poorly implemented structures that have been built(painted) so far. We are asking for international standards but in fact, as was discussed at the meeting, even the London/UK standards would be adequate.
2) Cycling as a tool for urban renewal/better `places
This may sound like a nebulous proposal. At its heart is the concept that we need to transform the open space into a place where walking and cycling is given priority. To give it a more substance we indicated that the specific demand is to create limited traffic zones.These could be of different sizes and repeated through out London reflecting the diversity of the urban structure of the Capital. There are very successful examples of these both abroad and in the UK (e.g. Cambridge)
3) Sustainable commuting hours
This consist in a total ban of private motorised traffic between 8-9am and 4:30-5:30 pm. During these hours only buses and taxis would be allowed to drive at a strict 20mph. This proposal sounds extremely radical but in practice it would be relatively simple and inexpensive to implement but requires an big mental effort in order to achieve behavioural change. (You would just need to think for a while what wonderful experience and what enormous health and economic benefit it would be for everyone to get to work and school with no traffic around)
So these are the three ideas that we would like to send back to LCC board , but before we do that we would like to hear from you. There are two ways of doing that . You can post a message to our yahoo list discussion list and/or you can complete this survey Click here to take survey.