A track record of under-investment
Croydon Council has a poor record of investment in cycling – compared to other London boroughs, it has asked for less money, so got less and then spent less than it was given.
Using data obtained via a Freedom of Information request, we know that in the financial years 2006/7 to 2009/10, Croydon applied to Transport for London to spend £2.8m on building the “London Cycle Network Plus” network of cycle-friendly streets and other pro-cycling measures. It received £1.8m to do that and in the years 2006/6 to 2008/9 spent £1.4m. This works out at c£4.50 per resident.
By comparison, the “upper quartile” – top 25% of boroughs – asked for almost £6m, got £2.6m and spent £2.4, which works out at £11.05 per resident (in Camden this figure was over £28 per person).
We need the new Council’s members from all parties and wards to commit to being in the top 10% in respect of future cycling funding bids and actively monitor the process from start to finish to ensure that suitable schemes are designed, resourced and delivered.
Plenty of potential to increase cycling – untapped / ignored
In 2009, Croydon Council commissioned the production and publication of a report into the potential for increasing the number of journeys made by bicycle in the borough. A grant for this was given by Transport for London “for consultancy work to help boroughs shape their cycling strategy to assist in achieving the Mayor’s 400% increase in cycling by 2026.”
The 149-page Biking Borough report was published in July 2010 and found, amongst other things, that “the level of potential cycle trips is in the highest quartile of Outer London boroughs, highlighting the high level of potential for cycling in Croydon.”
It stated that cycling in Croydon in 2005/8 represented just 1.13% of all journeys made, well below the average across London at that time, 1.66% (the London average is now c2% – Croydon has not caught up though).
The report also warned the Council to simply to continue doing “more of the same” will not lead to a sufficiently rapid growth in cycling to meet the Mayor’s target.
The authors found that “the highest potential for cycling, is concentrated in the Croham, Fairfield, Waddon and Addiscombe wards, with smaller concentrations in South Norwood and Purley” and concluded overall “the greatest potential for increasing cycling in the borough is in the northern wards, Croydon Metropolitan Centre and Purley town centre.”
They therefore wrote recommendations “to align with TfL’s funding programmes” and so get money for implementation; these were grouped under the headings; Smarter Travel, Infrastructure, Partnership Working & Political Commitment.” Very few of them can be said to have been taken forward in any meaningful way. This has had repercussions – see the paragraph below on the mini-Holland bid.
We need the new Council’s members from wards mentioned above to work with local people, cycling groups and officers to increase cycle journeys in their wards.
Mini-Holland Bid – sunk by Croydon’s poor reputation
Like most outer London boroughs, in 2013 Croydon Council responded to the invitation by the Mayor of London to apply for a share of a £100m pot of funding to transform town centres into what Boris Johnson termed “mini-Hollands”. This label reflects the 2012 Mayoral election campaign during which the London Cycling Campaign persuaded all major candidates to heed the call to “Love London Go Dutch” and adopt the measure pioneered in the Netherlands that has led to cycling being the every day choice of transport for most Dutch people, no matter their age or ability.
Croydon’s bid was impressive and visionary. It included a commitment to spending £50m on cycle-friendly infrastructure, e.g. special bike lanes on the busiest main roads, treating junctions to make them easy and safe to use and opening up one-way streets to two-way cycling.
Unfortunately, Croydon’s bid didn’t even make the initial short-list. Andrew Gilligan, Boris’s “cycling Czar”, said to representatives of Croydon Cycling Campaign words to the effect that our Council’s lack of ambition and record of non-delivery on cycling had counted against it.
We need the new Council to overcome the disappointment at the failure of the bid to be short-listed by ensuring that the vision, objectives and specific schemes are not abandoned but taken forward and implemented by other means.
Cycling safety – serious injuries on the rise
The table above shows a worrying recent increase in the number of cyclists seriously injured on Croydon’s roads in the period 2005-12.
The surge following a downward trend coincides with a report in the Croydon Advertiser in 2011, which found that between 2008 and 2010, there had been a 90% drop in tickets being issued to drivers that failed to respect speed limits on roads covered by safety cameras.
Many people who would wish to cycle are intimidated by aggressive driver behaviour, including speeding.
The Mayor of New York, a city where walking and cycling are being boosted by innovative measures, has announced a “Vision Zero” policy goal of eliminating deaths by what he calls “traffic violence” to zero in the next ten years.
We need the Council and its Members to follow Mayor de Blasio’s lead and develop a multi-agency approach to cut the carnage on Croydon’s roads. This would include taking active steps to stop speeding in the borough and pressing the police to tackle this anti-social criminal behaviour. Road safety should prioritise the needs of the most vulnerable, pedestrians and cyclists, and focus efforts on those that create the greatest danger, HGVs specifically and law-breaking drivers generally.
Croydon public health – continually polluted air and a growing obesity crisis
The air pollution monitoring station in George Street in Croydon has, for more than a decade, recorded repeated breaches of the legal annual safety limits for Nitrogen Dioxide. It is perhaps paradoxical that this continuing failure has occurred in a period that has seen motor traffic levels along Wellesley Road drop by 20% in the period 2000-12. The Westfield development will see that reduction in motor traffic replaced by increased volumes of cars, vans and trucks.
Nitrogen Dioxide inflames the lining of the lungs, can reduce immunity to lung infections and so cause problems such as bronchitis. Children with asthma and older people with heart disease are most at risk from it. The Council is under a legal obligation to tackle this problem – it appears to be taking the stance that as things are already bad, Westfield can’t make it any worse.
Over 20% of Croydon’s schoolchildren are obese, and the same is true of about 25% of all adults. By the age of 45, over 60% of Croydonians are overweight or obese. Responsibility for public health now rests with local councils, including Croydon.
The 2012 British Medical Association publication, “Healthy Transport = Healthy Lives” noted that transport policy had brought the UK to a situation where there is the increased risk of road traffic accidents and greater exposure to air and noise pollution. Increased car use has also had the unintended result of far fewer people in the UK walking and cycling. It recommended a range of measures, including an action plan to re-focus transport policy and local councils to create safe routes to school so that children and parents can walk and cycle and reducing road congestion.
We need the new council to prioritise public health and take the steps outlined in the BMA report to reduce harmful and illegal air pollution and increase the proportion of journeys made by bicycle to reach in 2026 the 10% target set by the London Assembly’s Transport Committee (whose members include Croydon & Sutton representative, Steve O’Connell.
Last, but not least, we need all those standing in the Council elections taking place this May to take account of what local voters and Londoners want to help make their part of the capital a better place. The Space4Cycling campaign is focusing on 6 key issues:
- Protected space on main roads
- No through-motor-traffic zones
- 20mph speed limits
- Safer cycle routes to schools
- Liveable high streets
- More parkland routes
Keep in touch with us to find out more.
I used to cycle to Purley swiming pool before work 3 times a week about 3k, but I have been knocked off 3 times, the last after my 4th knee replaycment. I now have constance pain. I cycle with a group about 50 miles a week but I am scared to go swining. Painting a line on the road is not making it safe. Most are covered in cars parking. Make it safe for children to cycle.
Anne, I agree with you about paint not being enough, and that – unlike our continental cousins – Croydon’s cycle lanes are generally used for car parking.
Croydon Council comes out with various statements and brochures – talks the talk – but doesn’t walk the walk / ride the bike.
We deserve a lot better, and there’s a great opportunity to get it by becoming involved in the Space4Cycling campaign – see http://space4cycling.org This is designed to let you influence candidates standing for election in May for the council.
If you’re on Twitter, follow me via @croydoncyclists and you can also subscribe to our (not so frequently used now) Yahoo group, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/croydoncyclists/info
Finally, you’re very welcome to come to our monthly meetings – normally the second Monday of each month, at 7:45 in the Spread Eagle public house in Katharine Street, Croydon.