The effects of austerity policies on local government spending have been felt all over Lewisham in may different departments. Roads and Transport have not escaped and it has become increasingly clear over the last couple of years or so, that the council was going to need even more encouragement if not an active a helping hand if we were ever to see a cycle strategy for the borough in the forseeable future anyway. When we finally managed to get the Mayor’s Office to appoint a committed councillor as Cycling Champion, someone who actually rides a bike regularly round the borough and knows whats needed to get people to switch to cycling, we had some chance of getting a strategy started.
That proved to be the case, and with the help and support of Councillor mark Ingleby from Whitefoot ward, we finally have a draft ready for discussion. The draft is here Do read it. Its a large file so is a dropbox link. Email us with your comments and ideas. We can’t promise it will fulfill ever single persons absolute cycling wishlist. Indeed, we didn’t set out to do that. But we believe it has provided a starting point, a basic network, a set of immediate priorities and the principles to guide future development. Email us on lewishamcyclists@gmail.com or join our facebook group and comment there. The draft will also be presented to councillors and council officers by Councillor Ingleby and they will obviously have their say. Its by no means a done deal. But it is a start.
