Minutes of the Transition Town Berkhamsted transport group meeting 24 November 2008
Attendees
Wendy Conian
Anna Penning-Rowsell
Jon Rollit
Pauline Trotter
Apologies
Rosemary Crawford
Robert George
Emma Norrington
Rob Price
Tim Vaughan (Tring and Berkhamsted Cycling Campaign)
1. Other meetings
Anna fed back from the convenors’ meeting 19 Nov
- A central ‘hub’ group will be set up to support transition town Berkhamsted and provide central functions including communications, funding applications etc. Each group will still have autonomy to campaign and set their own agenda
- Some ideas were proposed for action that the transport group should be involved in, particularly the summer fayre
Wendy reported back on the Town Council meeting 20 Nov
2,400 more homes are planned for Berko by 2021
2. Issues and vision
Key transport problems in Berkhamsted from the Big Eco Event were narrowed down:
Car domination
- It feels as if the town is designed for cars and particularly to get people into the Waitrose car park
- Drivers seem unaware of pedestrians
- Walking can be scary and alienating
- Pedestrian crossings favour cars
- Front gardens are being paved over
- Pavements are too narrow for pushchairs and cars park on pavements
Problems cycling
- Cycling doesn’t feel safe, especially with kids
- Need better cycle access across town and out of town
- The worst place to cycle is by the schools as no traffic management
- BTCC are campaigning for a cycle route to Ashridge, we need to make contact asap
3. Our vision for Berkhamsted
We decided that we need a vision to help the group focus on the most important action to take:
- Berkhamsted will be a town where the streets are safe for people
- Cars do not dominate and the streets are designed to cope with all forms of transport, including walkers and cyclists
- It’s a town that is connected, not divided, by the high street
- It is a place where the first choice is to walk, then to cycle and then to use public transport - the car is a last resort
- Mindsets have changed, and it no longer seems weird not to own a car
- All children walk to school, or travel by bus if they can’t walk there
- It is a place where safer streets bind people together - connections to other people are stronger as we meet on the street more
- Berkhamsted is a town that is more resilient to the threat of peak oil because we are no longer so dependent on fossil fuels for our transport
4. Next steps
We felt that we should not leap into action before being sure that we are doing the right thing, particularly as most of the group have a limited amount of time to contribute. Some ideas were discussed:
- An event to raise profile and attract more members - naked cycle ride? This was rejected but generated some laughter!
- Campaign with the shops to promote walking to shops. Decided Waitrose not a good place to start and the small shops would struggle to support the idea of reducing driving into town as they feel it brings business
- Need to make our campaign achievable - changes to road layout is a very long term aim
- Mapping safe and unsafe walking routes, particularly safe routes to school. This would be a good way to raise awareness of the issues, gives a focus to the message and others have successfully campaigned for safe routes to school. By mapping routes, key problem areas will be identified and action called for to make them safer. Decided that we should start by talking to schools to find out what the perceived transport issues are for each, rather than impose a campaign on them.
- Should also talk to older people about what they see as transport and walking issues
5. Actions points
1. Anna to contact TBCC to set up meeting
2. Anna to find out about Safe routes to school campaign
3. Wendy to talk to parents at Victoria, Westfield and Greenway schools informally about their perception of transport problems
4. Pauline to talk to her contact in Brighton to find out more about their Living streets group and how they started to get thing changing.
6. Date of next meeting
Tuesday 16 December, venue TBC