Cycling UK Forum

Here's a twofer pic of a Sheffield Stand of the current type used by Leeds City Council



In spite of fatbat's perceptive remarks about Leeds, on this occasion the City Council is not to blame for the inaccessibility of the stand (which is one of two outside Gildersome Co-op.) When the stands were installed, they were not obstructed. More recently Gildersome Parish Council - a recent creature of the Blunkett innovations - has been decorating Gildersome with flower tubs and providing seats so people can sit and enjoy the improved view. The stand is now completely useless for its original purpose (the brown thing edging into the shot on the left is a telegraph pole) because of the obstructions.

Flinders

It shows the extra element across the bottom suitable for the fastening of recumbents, small bikes etc.

thirdcrank wrote: The stand is now completely useless for its original purpose (the brown thing edging into the shot on the left is a telegraph pole) because of the obstructions.
.

Weep

Thank you everyone for responding. It is evident that there is good advice available from a number of sources including the Mayor of London and the Department for Transport.
The problems seem to arise from a lack of awareness of the advice which is available and an inability to implement it. I therefore remain convinced that if cycle parking provision were to be given greater emphasis in official planning/transport policy at the national, regional and local levels then a helpful strategic framework could be in place which could act as a springboard to tackle lack of awareness and lack of action.
At the National level the key documents are the Planning Policy Guidance Notes or whatever they are now called which set out the considerations planners are required to take into account in recommending and making decisions. At the regional level the key documents would be the Regional Spatial Strategies and the Regional Transport Plans prepared by the Regional Assemblies. At the local level the key documents would be the Local Development Frameworks prepared by the local planning authorities and the Local Transport Plans prepared by the local transport authorities.
Perhaps the CTC could write to the DfT and Department for Communities and Local Government or whatever it's now called suggesting that cycle parking should feature in the next revision of the relevant Guidance Notes.That would be a start which could then cascade to the regional and local levels.
jonty

Jonty wrote:That would be a start which could then cascade to the regional and local levels.
jonty

I think 'cascade' might be a bit optimistic. Dribble?

As I said, planning officers need to be reminded of their own policies - not because they are unaware of them, but because life's easier if no one mentions them. Lifetime Homes (that's disabled access and the like) has a far higher profile than cycle parking; yet many architects still don't seemed to have caught up.

For larger projects, going over the designs, picking up bad or absent facilities, writing to the local papers, the MP, the local councillors etc, it seems to pay off. On smaller projects... ..well, I've had quite a bit of success opposing bad developments in my area, but I don't suppose my complaints about cycle storage have made the slightest difference.

Must we wait until the oil runs out?

thirdcrank wrote:I'd recommend a sheffield stand with a cross tube about a foot from the ground. This is the style currently being installed by Leeds City Council. The advantage is that you have the main sheffield stand, which - if placed with suitable clearance - will take two bikes, one on each side, and the lower tube offers a supplementary locking position.

It also means that a thief can't get your lock onto the ground to chisel/jemmy it.

Milton Keynes Development Corporation had a cycle parking standard which specified the number of cycle parking stands to be provided for various categories of development. However, it fell short of specifying the number or type of cycle parking in residential development.

Dutch building standards call for indoor cycle parking to be provided in residential development. I have called for this in Milton Keynes, without much success. Alas, the successors to MKDC cannot even ensure that the minimum amount of cycle parking specifed by MKDC is being provided on recent and current development.

I've just posted in the Does Anyone Know bit of the forum (which may have a broader readership) seeking exemplary examples of cycle parking in blocks of flats.

Enjoy this report
http://www.gmcc.org.uk/main/wp-content/ ... afford.pdf

thats smashing We need a website to complement warringtons cycle campaign! Thanks for the links!

I believe that PPGs 3 and 13 allude to some level of adequate parking provision.

Additionally, most councils have parking standards, which can be quite difficult to find from their website links. On the other hand, if you google "supplementary parking standard" or similar, you can usually find something.

Developers routinely provide less-than-adequate car parking on-site which then causes congestion and pavement parking in the vicinity, and does not in my mind reduce car ownership one jot. For cycles, they often hardly bother at all. However, if you object at the planning stage, pointing out what the policy is, you can usually force them to change their designs.

Planning committees, while advised by Planning Departments, are nevertheless usually only full of Councillors who often cannot be bothered to check or read applications - that falls to you, alas. Despite their protestations, they often act as though they have vested interests, too. So you need to write clearly and succinctly in simple language and advise them what their own policies and responsibilities are.

I say this as someone who has successfully opposed more than 150 dwellings, and have also had provision of facilities changed where development permission has been granted.

Sorry not to respond before, thirdcrank, but have been on holiday- thanks for the snap of the Sheffield stamd with crossbar. We were looking for them when we were away and actually found one like this, but wasn't sure it was what you meant.
Will refer OH to the picture for purposes of the new build plan..............

stoobs wrote:Planning committees, while advised by Planning Departments, are nevertheless usually only full of Councillors who often cannot be bothered to check or read applications - that falls to you, alas. Despite their protestations, they often act as though they have vested interests, too. So you need to write clearly and succinctly in simple language and advise them what their own policies and responsibilities are.

The above paragraph should be part of the school syllabus (civic studies); it should be at the top of all local government planning documents; read out in church every Sunday, and sung from the minaret by the Imam every Friday.

It's good advice - whether related to cycle provision or any other planning matter. Too often we are expected to trust the professionals ('They know their job.' No they don't!) or we become defeatist ('it doesn't matter what we say - they're too powerful'. Yes it does. No they're not!)

Just to repeat the key point: "So you need to write clearly and succinctly in simple language and advise them what their own policies and responsibilities are." Amen.