I highly recommend a read of "Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network" by Laura Laker, which gives the story of the NCN, its disjointed development, and background of Sustrans.
Though probably has to be edited now to replace every mention of Sustrans with Walk Wheel Cycle Trust 😄
Do Sustrans Walk Wheel Cycle Trust have any sort of maintenance regime for their routes, or is it a case of once built forgotten about? Newly opened route between Wendover & Great Missenden is going to be a shit show for cyclists if they don't clear the fallen leaves once the trees are bare.
Do Sustrans Walk Wheel Cycle Trust have any sort of maintenance regime for their routes, or is it a case of once built forgotten about?
WWCT only own about 2% of the network, most of it is a mix of private landowners, councils, National Highways, Canal & River Trust, National Trust and so on.
What they do is use a mix of volunteers and WWCT staff to help these landowners to maintain, improve and develop their routes using funding raised from their charity status. Their main role alongside coordinating that work is to promote the routes / network and monitor usage.
How effective that lot is I guess depends a bit on where you're riding and how many volunteers they have in that areas as well as how much the relevant landowner cares.
I'm a Sustrans 🤔 volunteer, since the rebrand all existing risk assessments are invalid. Now all work on my section is waiting and waiting for new ones . 🙄I'm being stubborn? Not doing any work until they are redone . If we do anything it's off our own back , no hours credited and more importantly if anything were to happen it's on our heads ( not literally hopefully)
Luckily my section has had a major facelift so it's just general tidying but not burning brash that's a no no .
I imagine people thought the same about CTC when they changed to CyclingUK.
Ahh, thanks for the prompt. They painted themselves orange recently at who know what cost. They started as a club, hijacked it and converted to a charidy. Now they're a pseudo Corporate charidy whatsit, painted orange and paying 'professional charity chief execs' etc who know what to promote more cycling for inner city one legged lesbians. Ho hum.
Luckily my section has had a major facelift so it's just general tidying but not burning brash that's a no no .
This is a new recently opened route and I already unofficially "maintain" a shared use path near us, plus the volume & length of leaf fall on this one is beyond ad-hoc clearance. I'll contact WWCT & council to see if they have any plans a foot.
As for cycling UK, they seem to be a doddery road club round our way & gave zero response when I asked if anyone was interested in helping out with the local cycle path network... But I'm still a member because I don't mind them helping one legged lesbians get into cycling.
I'm a Sustrans
volunteer, since the rebrand all existing risk assessments are invalid.
If the legal entity hasn't changed, only the name, then a past RA would still be valid. Updating the name is just a tidying up job?
Now they're a pseudo Corporate charidy whatsit, painted orange and paying 'professional charity chief execs' etc who know what to promote more cycling for inner city one legged lesbians. Ho hum.
I don’t get this attitude at all. More people cycling makes it better for those of us already cycling, whether that’s in safer infrastructure or normalisation of attitudes towards people on bikes, saves taxpayers’ money by making people healthier, and keeps your LBS in business. There is literally nothing to dislike in outreach campaigns to communities who have historically lower levels of cycling.
It’s well-established that both CUK and WWCT derive most of their funding from central grants for this sort of work.
Also are the horse folk happy with being excluded from that list? They're sustainable transport also and a lot of cycle routes and bridleways depend on us working together.
Horses walk - so they're included - as are hobby horses with their wheels 🙂
I'm a Sustrans
If the legal entity hasn't changed, only the name, then a past RA would still be valid. Updating the name is just a tidying up job?
Invalid according to whom?
Its just a name change - If you look on companies house WWCT's company number - 01797726 - has a filing history goes back to the 1980s so they've been the same legal entity throughout
I'm a Sustrans 🤔 volunteer, since the rebrand all existing risk assessments are invalid.
I worked in a QC lab for a company that changed name and someone asked about the validity of the risk assessments (and the other QC stuff) in the old company name. Turned out as long as we kept actually doing what the risk assessments said they were still valid until someone got round to doing find/replace on the docs. I'd be really surprised if this wasn't the case for you as well.
promote more cycling for inner city one legged lesbians.
I volunteer for CUK helping them get people using adapted cycles. I've never enquired about anyones sexuality there but I personally think that helping people who've lost a limb due to cancer, trauma or whatever get on bikes is a good use of my time and the charity's time.
RA needing updating according to our volunteers coordinator who was told by Sustrans , WWC , I'm trying to clarify the situation with them atm
RA needing updating according to our volunteers coordinator who was told by Sustrans , WWC , I'm trying to clarify the situation with them atm
It might be a good *opportunity* to update the RA so long as there's a coordinated approach based on factors such as when it was last done and any maintenance/improvement work since then as well as if the format or assessment process has changed.
But otherwise you're simply filling in an identical document in the same way with the same info, just with a different name at the top.
Now they're a pseudo Corporate charidy whatsit, painted orange and paying 'professional charity chief execs' etc who know what to promote more cycling for inner city one legged lesbians. Ho hum.
I don’t get this attitude at all. More people cycling makes it better for those of us already cycling, whether that’s in safer infrastructure or normalisation of attitudes towards people on bikes, saves taxpayers’ money by making people healthier, and keeps your LBS in business. There is literally nothing to dislike in outreach campaigns to communities who have historically lower levels of cycling.
It’s well-established that both CUK and WWCT derive most of their funding from central grants for this sort of work.
Well I joined CTC as a cycle tourer (possibly a beardy one at that), I didn't join a professional campaign group. And just because I happen to be a cyclist doesn't automatically make me a campaigner for greater cycling uptake (or whatever tangenital issue is currently de regueur). My area of interest is very specific, I don't really care about the transport policy of Birmingham's inner city (or whatever). As a die hard beardy tourer, I'd quite like to know about that which is barely covered in their non sustainable, printed and posted PAPER magazine.
The issue with the CTC is it was a club of like minded individuals (~80k IIRC) that was taken over then subsumed into a professional campaigning organisation that thinks painting everything a different colour is delivering against its own remit. I know Marketing can be a difficult area to be empirical in, but I'd be interested in the stats of cycling uptake before and after... I suspect I know the answer even if the stats exist and are reliable.
I'm a Sustrans 🤔 volunteer, since the rebrand all existing risk assessments are invalid.
I worked in a QC lab for a company that changed name and someone asked about the validity of the risk assessments (and the other QC stuff) in the old company name. Turned out as long as we kept actually doing what the risk assessments said they were still valid until someone got round to doing find/replace on the docs. I'd be really surprised if this wasn't the case for you as well.
promote more cycling for inner city one legged lesbians.
I volunteer for CUK helping them get people using adapted cycles. I've never enquired about anyones sexuality there but I personally think that helping people who've lost a limb due to cancer, trauma or whatever get on bikes is a good use of my time and the charity's time.
Good for you. The reference is clearly a light hearted description of (maybe) how some see their own remit but make it an issue if you want, I couldn't care less 🙃
