Cleaver Square works not for the chop

Dawn Rahman, Lambeth'sTransport Policy Manager, is pleasingly described as 'amazing' by Lurking About SE11. I suspect both blogs are fans of her because she makes every effort to communicate effectively, including asking local micro-blogs such as ours to help. She's asked us to share the following:

The new cycle hire site in Cleaver Square will be in place on the 31st of this month. However, due to current resourcing issues at Transport for London, this means that the extensive remedial works at Cleaver Street which include re-paving the area, will need to be completed in the two weeks following the installation of the docking station. We are keen to notify residents of the time lag above, so as to avoid any confusion/disappointment when the docking station is installed.

Vroom, Vroom Peer Group

When you respond to a planning application that response is available for others to view, presumably so it can inform their response or allow inaccuracies to be challenged.
I'm indebted to the SE1 blog's Twitter feed section for sharing a letter of objection to a planning permission application to extend the Boris Bikes docking station outside Southwark's Hop Exchange from the Managing Director of property company Peer Group.

In the letter the MD, Howard J Dawson (who may or may not be the same person as the J. H. Dawson on the letterhead's listing of company directors) claims "the cycle docking stations are an unsightly addition to the streetscape" that "The council is irresponsible in encouraging cyclists...." and finds it "regrettable that TfL does not spend its resources more usefully repairing the roads and footpaths and making adequate provision for cars which already pay excessively for the privilege of using the borough's roads"

Each to their own view, although why anyone would favour stuffing up Southwark's roads with more noisy, polluting, space wasting, unsightly cars that have the capacity to be far more damaging when used carelessly by their users than bicycles do is beyond me.

It is perhaps not surprising that a quick Google throws up a very strong association between the Peer Group and Britain's most prolific manufacturer of racing cars.

Biggest Boris Bike dock to date at Waterloo

 126 bikes are now available to use outside Waterloo Station on Mepham Street. Interestingly the previous cycle lane and pavement have been made into shared space for pedestrians and cyclists. The powers that be have put up the sort of sign that would be sensible to use on the Thames Path.

New Hire Bike Docking Stations in Lambeth

I'm very impressed by Dawn Rahman, Lambeth Council's Transport Policy Manager, and I see that the equally impressive 'Lurking About SE11' is too - reporting excellent feedback provided in response to that site's suggestions on locations for docking stations.

Here are the throrough and sensible responses I received earlier to some suggestions I made:



a) Brook Drive towards CS7 end - plus on-street cycle parking for residents  - unfortunately the end by CS7 is Southwark so I can't personally progress these but can mention them to TfL. I've also asked Richard Ambler about possible cycle stands on Brook Drive (again unfortunately it could only be the Lambeth side - such as we are tied to borough boundaries). In terms of removing car parking on the Lambeth end of Brook Drive, we did have a look at this previously but the parking stress seems quite high and we didn’t progress it. I think the fact that the one opposite the Imperial War museum is so close to the Lambeth portion of Brook Drive that we probably wont be able to take this one forward.

b) check out http://southeasteleven.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-london-cycle-hire-in-vauxhall.html which has useful suggestions, including in the comments
This was really interesting reading these. We did have a site planned on the public space between Oval and Kennington Park but we lost it at the implementation stage due to stat covers etc, which was a real shame. I keep re-looking at that area and I think the best option is to loose car parking on Kennington Oval (the end as near to the tube station as possible) - but not sure how popular this would be with residents- although according to our development control team the parking stats are very low in that area so I think this is a good suggestion and one I want to progress.

c) Right next door to secondary schools (as at Lilian Baylis on Kennington Lane) - encourage secondary school kids to cycle to school. London Nautical is in the area ((Stamford Street). Work with School Travel Plan Mgr to push into schools.
Had a look at London Nautical - but struggled to see sufficient space to fit a 20 bike docking point unfortunately. The only other option is much further down by the Coin Street building but then it is very close to the other docking station.

d) Belvedere Road - the private bit of road that the problem company Shirayama own, outside the restaurants. Get Yo Sushi and Locale on side,  Plus ordinary cycle parking of course
Hmmm- we did discuss the problems of this road at a meeting today with TfL, and they said they would try to see if they can get any pressure put on the owners to make this road more 'cycle friendly' but I can't realistically see this happening in line with the TfL deadlines I have been given to progress new sites!



e) Royal Street for St Thomas' (with change to allow two way entrance to Royal Street etc.)
We looked at this site originally a couple of years ago, it would seem the whole area was due to be developed into flats for nurses etc so we weren’t able to go ahead with a site at the current time. I've just spoken with our planning section and they say that the initial plans have been put on hold due to financial constraints but that there are still possible plans to re-develop. But this might not happen for a while, so it wouldn't fit in with the tight timescales TfL are asking to progress the site currently. On the upside there should be one on the other side of the road in the hospital grounds going live very soon. I'm going to keep Royal Street on the agenda though as agree it is an ideal location. Will also speak to Richard A about the two way issues.



f) Lambeth Walk outside the large doctors practice - plus big push with staff there to get patients to use them.
I really like the idea of this one in terms of links to health etc for patients and will look at having this as a contingency site, due to the close proximity of the Lollard Street docking point. For some reason according to the usage figures from TfL Lollard Street is one of the least used sites. I'm unsure as to why this is not used that much as thought this would be a good location. It might be worth delving into why this one is not being used. Although I have asked TfL for some recent usage figures as the ones they provided were up to mid Sept, so it may have improved since then.



g) Kennington Road where there's no cycle parking although it'd probably be better just to put a Sheffield Stand outside every shop.
Unfortunately as this is red route we're not allowed to put any cycle parking in (frustratingly for us). I'll speak to TfL about this area again. We did progress a site close by on Windmill Row but there were too many objections and planning approval was not allowed. I think I'll have another look here as I'm conscious there is such a big gap in the network between the post office and the next one up by Kennington Cross.



h) Cottington Street - with ancillary permission measures . Again like the idea of this as might encourage both residents and users of northern line to jump off at Kennington but I just can't see where we could put it without taking up too much footway space. We could potentially get a small station on the area that acts as a division but TfL wont progress smaller sites anymore so I just don’t think we can fit a 20 docking point station.



i) Cleaver Square on Kennington Park Road entrance.
I actually went out on site with TfL to look at this one a couple of months ago. And a site is being put forward for planning permission in the next week or so. Unfortunately we couldn't get agreement on the Kennington Park Road entrance due to potential problems with vehicular access/turning etc so have gone for a site directly opposite the court (closeish to the Kennington Road entrance). This is currently housing owned land and means that we can get TfL to improve the current area (which looks a bit tired) with new paving and the relocation of cycle parking and benches. I really hope that this will be popular with residents

Work starts on biggest docking station at Waterloo

Work began today on a 124-space 'super' cycle hire docking station close to the main entrance of Waterloo station.

The new station will be the biggest yet for the Mayor's flagship Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, which now has more than 100,000 members.

The docking station will be installed next to the existing cycle parking facilities on Station Approach between the Victory Arch and central concourse entrances.

It should be operational by mid-December.

Boris Bike to school (and new sites!)

Great to see a Hire Bike stand going in next to the Lilian Baylis Technology School. I trust the staff have plans to encourage pupils aged 14+ to take a Boris Bike between home and school.

In fact, having a hire bike stand by the school should be an essential part of any local School Travel Plan.

Is there somewhere around here you think would be a good site for a docking station? See here for your chance to push for it

Mayor's Question Time - Kennington Hire Bike answers

From the October 2010 Mayor's Question Time (see the other cycling questions and answers for October here
Cycle Hire Kennington
Question No: 3252 / 2010
Valerie Shawcross
A number of constituents have complained that when they seek to return their
hire bikes to Kennington after work all the docking stations are full and they
have to head back into town to return them. Can you explain what TfL is doing to
ensure that in the future there will be more docking stations available in
Kennington in the evening?

Answer from the Mayor
TfL and the scheme operator Serco have been working to improve redistribution of
the bikes and where possible, seek to meet demand for bikes.

In addition, TfL is continuing to roll out docking stations as part of the
development of the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme. Working in cooperation with the
Boroughs, TfL is identifying suitable new sites and sites where the number of
docking points can be expanded in areas of high demand. Two further sites near
Kennington have been granted planning permission, which TfL plan to install
before Christmas. A further two sites have been identified and are being
progressed through the planning application process.

South Bank in cycling film sensation

North London film maker Lee Butterley has beaten stiff competition to triumph in TfL's Cycle Revolution film competition.

TfL teamed up with Film London and the Bicycle Film Festival to give film makers the opportunity to celebrate the spirit of cycling in London through film.

Lee was named the winner by the Mayor's Transport Adviser, Kulveer Ranger, at a special event as part of the international Bicycle Film Festival on Saturday evening.

His quirky short film, Simon and Simone, serves to remind us all that love can conquer all - with the help of the Mayor's flagship cycle hire scheme!

Lee, from Kilburn, said: 'We wanted to make a film which was simple, engaging and also showed how useful and accessible the Cycle Hire scheme is.

'We recorded the film in one afternoon traversing London from the Barbican to the South Bank to try and get as many iconic locations in as possible.

'What we came up with is an old fashioned race against time, with the Barclays Cycle Hire bike saving the day and bringing two estranged lovers finally together.'

Get on your bike
David Brown, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said: 'There was a real vibrancy to all the films that made the shortlist.

'They excellently demonstrate how liberating it can be to get on a bike in London.

'The films served as a wonderful advertisement for cycling in our city.'