After a hiatus in 2018 the West Sussex Cycle Summit returned to Horsham this year.

Under the banner of “Getting ahead of the game” delegates heard how cycling improvements can be secured through the planning process and how Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) can be used to plan for and deliver cycle networks.

Roger Elkins, Cabinet Member for Highways & Infrastructure, opened the Summit by asking: “Can we get more out of development?”

Speakers from West Sussex Highways outlined the progress made since the last Summit in 2017 and explained how to move your District’s LCWIP from planning to delivery.

Roger Geffen from Cycling UK talked of the importance of planning for a cycle network and building to a high standard.

To provide a cycle network that connects people to the places they want to go to there are three types of cycle infrastructure:

• On main roads you need physical protection. The faster and busier the road the more protection you need.
• For areas where traffic volumes and speeds are low, such as town centres, 20mph should be the norm.
• For junctions and crossings – where most collisions occur – you need greater priority for pedestrians and cyclists.

Adur & Worthing’s Francesca Illiffe and Judy Fox spoke of their journey of getting their Council’s LCWIP from initial bid submission to being fully adopted.

You can read a full report on the Summit here.

An audience of councillors and officers from across the county filled the main chamber at County Hall North to hear some of the UK’s leading experts speak about how cycling can deliver a step-change in the county’s health.

Under the banner “Building cycle networks for health and independence” the audience at the 2017 Cycle Summit heard how the new Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) are a powerful tool to deliver cycle infrastructure which makes a real difference to people’s lives.

The health benefits of cycling are well recognised: Dr Kate Bailey spoke of the health and social care crisis facing West Sussex and how cycling can massively reduce people’s chances of developing cancer or heart disease and cut their overall likelihood of dying early by 40%. It’s so effective because cycling to work is an easy, attractive and long term way to increase exercise.

Leading academic Dr Rachel Aldred explained that cycling levels in the UK are very low by European standards and that our poor cycling infrastructure is largely to blame for this.

The three tyres of infrastructure needed to rectify this are:

• Direct routes away from motor traffic
• Physically protected infrastructure (tracks) on busier roads
• Very lightly trafficked smaller streets

“It’s about providing the right conditions.”

WSCC’s Andy Ekinsmyth stressed that although people talk about there not being enough money, there are various pots of money available – but to access the money you need a plan: “The key is to work together and have an adopted plan for your network.”

Roger Geffen from Cycling UK spoke of the importance of planning for a full network suitable for an accompanied 8 year-old or an unaccompanied 12 year-old. If you have a plan, you can get funding: “If you don’t have a plan, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.” He encouraged councils and campaigners to work together.

Transport consultant Mark Strong explained how LCWIPs work and said the most important factor in achieving success is “a vision at the highest level” and, when building sections of your network, “either do it properly or don’t do it at all.”

Phil Jones gave examples of successful cycle infrastructure from the UK and around the world. This included building dedicated cycle tracks rather than shared-use paths and permitting contraflow cycling on one-way streets. Continuity and safety at junctions is crucial and he showed a range of ways to do this, including using the new parallel  “tiger” crossings which give pedestrians and cyclists their own separate space.

Councillors spoke of an “inspirational” day and the “excellent speakers” – “It brought the problems onto my radar”, but wanted WSCC to use its position as the highways authority to take a firmer lead in setting design standards for the county.

Pru Moore, Leader of Burgess Hill Town Council, said: “We are missing an opportunity to incorporate cycle paths into all the new developments that are coming forward.”

The recently re-juvenated Worthing Cycle Forum was given new impetus by Crawley Cycle Forum which, with high-level backing within the council, has secured significant cycling investment from the Local Growth Fund.

Summit chair Rosemary French summed up by quoting former London Cycling Commissioner Andrew Gilligan:

“The key factor is political leadership.”

You can read a full report on the Summit here.

People who cycle to work reduce their risk of cancer and heart disease by almost half, research suggests.

According to the five-year study of more than 250,000 people, those who cycle for their commute have a 46% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and 45% lower risk of developing cancer than people who drive to work or take public transport.

The research, carried out by experts from the University of Glasgow, concluded that overall cyclists have a 41% lower risk of premature death from any cause.

You can read the full article here.

Cycling: the “miracle pill”

In an article by the Guardian’s Peter Walker, cycling is described as a “miracle pill” that could save the NHS:

“Imagine if a team of scientists devised a drug which massively reduced people’s chances of developing cancer or heart disease, cutting their overall likelihood of dying early by 40%. This would be front page news worldwide, a Nobel prize as good as in the post.

That drug is already here, albeit administered in a slightly different way: it’s called cycling to work. One of the more puzzling political questions is why it is so rarely prescribed on a population-wide level.”

Walker argues that encouraging bike use to Dutch or Danish levels could do more than perhaps any other single intervention to save the NHS from collapse:

“Study after study has shown far too many Britons live almost entirely sedentary lives. Research last month showed 6 million middle-aged people in England don’t even take a single brisk walk longer than 10 minutes in an average month.”

People are seemingly aware of the health benefits but for all the talk of a bike boom, cycle commuting rates have remained fairly static at about 3%, while only about 1% or 2% of all trips involve a bike:

“Transforming this would involve many years of political will to construct safe bike routes across the UK, and to disincentivise driving for short trips.”

You can read the full article here.

Neil Taylor – director at transport consultancy Integrated Transport Planning (ITP) – explains how making full use of Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) can pave the way to good quality cycle schemes at ground level.

Last year saw the publication of the Department for Transport’s eagerly anticipated Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. This has since been accompanied by guidance to local authorities on how they can help double cycling activity by 2025. While the availability of government funding for delivering walking and cycling network improvements remains a topic for debate, the guidance to councils appears sound.

The guidance was developed by an expert advisory team, drawing on international best practice for designing safe, cohesive, direct and dedicated cycle route networks. The 40-page Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) guidance advises councils on the process for making the investment case to deliver their network plans.

Six steps to active movement

The LCWIP guidance may provide ‘lightbulb moments’ for councils and political decision-makers pondering why urban highway capacity added in recent years has not ‘solved’ worsening traffic congestion and air quality.

Presuming towns and cities are eager to replicate the success of London’s emerging Cycle Superhighway and Quietway networks, it sets out six steps to achieving walking and cycling nirvana, which are paraphrased below:

Scope – define where, geographically, an LCWIP makes sense and identify the key players.

Evidence – understand where people walk and cycle now, and where infrastructure investment could strengthen and expand active travel activity.

Plan for cycling – devise a cohesive whole network capable of accommodating personal movement at between 10-20mph, using trip origin-destination and route choice data.

Plan for walking – in many places people and bikes won’t mix that well, so define key walking zones and required improvements separately.

Prioritise – you probably can’t afford it all, so figure out what it will cost and which improvements deliver maximum value for money.

Integrate – embed LCWIPs into other local policies, strategies and delivery plans to help secure and allocate funding for their implementation.

Getting it done

Sounds simple? Well it can be, but here are some observations based on ITP’s experience:

Start with vision and leadership: If councillors aren’t excited or committed, then it probably won’t happen. In many locations, prioritising cycling and walking necessitates re-prioritising road-space or verges. This won’t be for everyone, and it won’t be for everywhere. Getting key decision-makers on a bike in UK and European locations, where public space for walking and cycle network provision is being well-delivered, illuminates what can be achieved.

Resist compromise: The net effect of previously shying away from trickier decisions means a lot of existing routes in UK towns and cities are circuitous and provided where it was easy, rather than where priority and segregation from traffic are required. If your town or city’s desired cycle network meanders towards a series of indirect or compromised routes, then we’d be the first to say ‘don’t waste the money’. Conversely, if you deliver high-profile, high quality, cohesive routes that clearly cater for demand, then evidence of subsequent uptake should offer the proof and political capital needed for continued investment.

Involve local walking and cycling groups: In the past many councils seemed to avoid engaging local campaign groups, perhaps because their views on existing networks are uncompromising and (sometimes brutally!) honest. In our experience, working with local cycling communities, to understand how and where people cycle to collaboratively design key pieces of infrastructure, helps secure buy-in and deliver networks that people use.

Make a ‘whole network’ economic case: Although oft-criticised, WebTAG offers a mechanism for articulating the relatively low costs and significant economic, public health, air quality and traffic decongestion benefits associated with high quality cycle network improvements. We advocate robustly appraising the potential benefits of a complete network, as well as constituent links. Knowing the total ‘big ticket’ cost for a town or city’s walking and cycling network can inform prioritised early delivery of greatest impact/high priority links, informing the case for using developer contributions and Local Growth Fund monies to deliver links that support growth.

Push-through diminishing returns: Once you have delivered a few high-quality, high priority links there might be a temptation to forget about the smaller connectors. Before you do, don’t forget that the value of the whole network will far exceed that of constituent links. Seeing the job through is a critical success factor for developing a cohesive network.

Maintain and monitor: Once built, don’t forget about it! Maintaining walk/cycle routes as we do roads is not something we have been great at, but is critical to sustaining an active travel revolution. Designing-in usage counting mechanisms helps understand how your emerging network is being used – helping to make the case for further investment.

A utopian vision?

We know it isn’t necessarily this straightforward, but planning dedicated walking and cycling networks in urban areas need not be science fiction. As the visionary writer HG Wells once said: “Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” Perhaps by working together, and dedicating meaningful budgets to clearly thought-out LCWIPs, we can contribute to that message of optimism.

This article is published with the kind permission of Neil Taylor and originally appeared on the Get Britain Cycling website.

A new short film from summit speaker Rachel Aldred entitled “Cycling for All” shows how cycle infrastructure must cater for minorities to be truly inclusive.

“Cycling in Britain is not equal: women, older people, black and minority ethnic people, and disabled people are all less likely to cycle.”

Lack of inclusive cycling infrastructure is the number one barrier for disabled cyclists. Often cycle paths are not wide enough and physical barriers placed on the paths can prevent disabled people from using them.

A poor cycling environment also results in rates of cycling falling off dramatically as people get older. Infrastructure needs to be welcoming to all types of cycles with high quality, direct routes that are attractive to people of all ages and abilities.

Under the banner ”Building Cycle Networks for Health and Independence” this year’s summit will focus on how to plan a cycle network for your local area and how to access the funding for it. Invitations will be going out shortly.

Delegates will discover why cycle networks are the key to delivering a step-change in health and independence throughout life and will learn about the latest tools and techniques for producing a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP).

Speakers will include Rachel Aldred, who will demonstrate the types of infrastructure needed to achieve a step change towards everyday mass cycling, Roger Geffen, who will discuss why political will is the key factor to achieving real change, Phil Jones who will explain the new tools and policies for delivering change, and Mark Strong who will talk about recent transformational changes with a range of infrastructure types relevant to West Sussex.

This event is being organised by the West Sussex Cycle Forum in association with West Sussex County Council. The afternoon is specifically designed for councillors, officers and decision-makers.

If you think you could benefit from attending – or know someone else who would – please contact info@westsussexcycleforum.org.uk.

When? Monday 9th October 1:00pm-4:30pm
Where? County Hall North, Parkside, Horsham, RH12 1XH

You can find further details on the Summit website which will be regularly updated as more information becomes available.

The Chichester Observer reports how, at last week’s Cycle Summit, representatives from planning, engineering, health, road safety, as well as councillors and officers from across the county, heard presentations from an array of prominent experts on cycling improvements.

Peter Smith, cabinet member for planning and economic development at Crawley Borough Council, said: “The speakers presented a compelling business case for more structural investment in walking and cycling infrastructure.”

You can read the full article here.

Cllr Peter Smith, Cabinet member for Planning and Economic Development at Crawley Borough Council praised the West Sussex Cycle Summit as a “tremendous event” that presented “a compelling business case for investment in cycling infrastructure”.

“I was pleased to see a good attendance of senior Councillors from WSCC as well as representatives from the LEP and local business groups.”

Cllr Smith went on to say:

“The speakers presented a compelling business case for more structural investment in walking and cycling infrastructure as it would bring real benefits in terms of growth, increases in economic activity, reductions in congestion and pollution as well as helping with parking shortages.”

“They presented a case for an ‘Imperative need to invest in Cycling infrastructure’ which was a must-do rather than a nice-to-have.”

The presentations from the Summit can now be viewed online.

Immediately after Friday’s summit Rachel Aldred will be giving a brief demonstration of the Propensity to Cycle Tool. In preparation for this Rachel has produced a case study which explores the potential for cycle commuting in West Sussex.

You can read more details about the Propensity to Cycle tool here.

In an open letter to Horsham and West Sussex councils, 26 medical professionals have called for better road designs to get “massive” health benefits from more people being able to cycle.

The letter was published in the West Sussex County Times alongside an Editorial calling on the views of the medics to be taken seriously in the creation of a “better, safer cycle network”.

In the accompanying article, Horsham Cycle Forum member Francis Vernon called for better cycle infrastructure: “For years there have been health campaigns to encourage people to ride bikes but people don’t do it because the roads are too dangerous”.

The open letter has been widely discussed on twitter and has also appeared on the Care Without Carbon website.

You can read the full text of the letter below:

As members of the local medical community we know there would be massive health benefits if large numbers of people chose to go by bike instead of taking the car for short journeys – people’s health would improve from being more active, whilst pollution and congestion would reduce. But this isn’t happening in West Sussex, where the number of people cycling to work has stayed at around 2% for the last ten years, with no sign of any change in sight,  whilst numbers of people on bikes killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads has risen significantly over the past few years.

It’s clear that where roads are safe for cycling people will gladly use bikes rather than cars. But almost all new road design within West Sussex seems to ignore cycling, with priority given to cars at every opportunity. Car is king in West Sussex – try riding across the new A264 west of Horsham junction, or taking a bike to the John Lewis/Waitrose stores in town to see what we mean.

We challenge the assumption that designing roads to save extra seconds on motorists’ journeys should be prioritised over the public health gain of roads made safe for cycling.

Local authorities are legally responsible for improving the health of their residents, so we support the local cycling forum in their calls on West Sussex and Horsham councils to stop building wasteful, unhealthy road schemes and to develop instead networks of pleasant, direct cycle routes in our towns and villages.

We also ask West Sussex Public Health Dept to begin to discuss with the Highways Dept how best to develop such a network across the county.

Simon Dean, Clinical Director, Horsham & Mid-Sussex CCG
Liz Fisher, GP at Park Surgery, Horsham
Jonathan Heatley, GP at Holbrook Surgery, Horsham
Jim Thomas, Head of Logistics, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
John Dudley, Dentist at Forestmead Dental Practice
David Skipp, Retired GP and Liberal Democrat councillor, HDC
Dr David Mckenzie, GP at Rudgwick Medical Centre
Staff at The Village Surgery, Southwater
Dr Julia Noorali, Principal Dentist at Holbrook Dental & Implant centre
Gabrielle Munslow, Community Psychiatric Nurse, Living Well with Dementia (LWWD) Team (Horsham)
Dr Paul Woods, GP at Holbrook Surgery, Horsham
Dr  Shilpa Jethwa, GP at Park Surgery, Horsham
Dr Gitta Schirmer, Consultant Psychiatrist, New Park House, Horsham
Ali Thomas, Team Lead, LWWD Team, Horsham
Dr Talau, Speciality Doctor
Carly Holman, Community Social Worker, LWWD Team, Horsham
Claire Freeman, Consultant Podiatric Surgeon, Independent Health Group
Graham Bell, Dentist at Worthing Road Dental Practice
S. Sepenceo, Community Psychiatric Nurse, LWWD Team, Horsham
Jacky Millan, Community Psychiatric Nurse, LWWD Team, Horsham
Sam Mortimer, Team Secretary, LWWD Team, Horsham
Sally Williams, Team Secretary, LWWD Team, Horsham
Nem Foolyeca, Community Psychiatric Nurse, LWWD Team, Horsham
Deborah Steggal, Community Psychiatric Nurse, LWWD Team, Horsham
Margaret Puttock, Community Social Worker, LWWD Team, Horsham
Jamie Tye, Horsham medical student, Brighton & Sussex Medical School

See supporting evidence.