Thank You Paul for That Inspired Address. I Am Also Wearing Black

CTC Dinner Speech

25th April 2009, Queen Hotel, Chester

Thank you Paul for that inspired address.

I am also wearing black socks this evening but thought that in honour of your presence a red bow tie would be appropriate.

You may be shocked to hear that whilst socks have not been an issue in this club the use of mudguards has.

You also mentioned our 131 years of history and I noted that the centre court at Wimbledon is 132 years old and has been given a roof. I don’t need to tell you Paul that we at CTC are not fair weather cyclists and can easily survive without a roof. But as one of CTC’s spokesman I have been told not to pedal the same old jokes, so I will do my best.

Having done my research Paul I see you were born and bred in Gillingham and of course are the member for Gillingham and Rainham . I see your majority is 254, making it the 9th most marginal seat in Britain.

Of course as chair of CTC I am non party political but I can think of a way of helping you. Paul, I am sure that you are aware that there are more bike owners in Britain than car owners and I expect that this is the case in Gillingham, so get them on your side and you could well be a winner.

To be in Chester, my home town to celebrate our 131st year and 70 years of the Chester and North Wales CTC is a real honour. As you know minister we have recently become a cycle demonstration town, though really we are a city. What a challenge we have – to double cycling in three years - like other towns we have to make cycling mainstream.

Cycling is becoming main stream – fashion shoots, BBC programme preludes, sports personality of the year and of course the greatest invention ever, was voted in as the bicycle.

In my home city, Chester, for longer than I care to remember ,I have been part of the campaign to improve conditions for cyclists and a number of strategic off road routes have been created. They are good but they have not produced a significant increase in cycling. Cycle development is about

much more than off road cycle routes.

But our main purpose, always has been and always will be, is to promote cycling on the highway.

Our right to ride on the public highway is the core of what we do – we should demand respect from other road users whilst at the same time being respectful ourselves.

Nearly all cyclists whether for work, shopping or leisure use the highway. My Easter break with Monica was in Snowdonia. Much of our cycling was on A roads – there ain’t many others. We had wall to wall sunshine, the scenery was stunning but we were always aware of the traffic.

Josie will no doubt tell us that driver behaviour in New Zealand is far worse than here but believe me we still have a long way to go to match the top European countries.

Clearly off road routes play a part but they must never be an excuse for not tackling the real challenge which should be about improving traffic behaviour. Minister the fundamental

issue that we must tackle is driver liability, and if we do, cyclists and pedestrians may one day achieve the respect that they enjoy in many other European countries.

So what prevents us from getting more people cycling, and realising all these benefits ? The answer is very simple : Fear. In a survey conducted by the Department for Transport, 74% of people agreed that the idea of cycling on a busy road frightens them.

In this context we welcome the launch earlier this week by your ministerial colleague, Jim Fitzpatrick of the DfT’s Draft Road safety strategy for 2010 – 2020. He rightly recognises that whilst road deaths have decreased, eight people a day are killed on our roads and that is clearly intolerable.

Our research has shown that when it comes to cyclists, there really is safety in numbers. The more people that cycle then the safer it becomes. London, as you know has seen a 91% increase in cycling since 2000 and a 33% fall in casualties.

Making our roads safer has to be the focus of our efforts and reduction of speed limits a key feature. We are pleased that the government is recognising the value of 20mph in residential areas and note that in Hull, following the introduction of the 20mph limit the number of people killed and seriously injured fell by 90%.

So we now need a strong emphasis on tackling the fears which deter people from cycling – not just in the Road Safety Strategy, but in the Local Transport Plan process too. As local authorities throughout England start writing their next round of Local Transport Plans (LTP3) this autumn clear policies for increasing cycling on safer roads should be at the top of the agenda. We are pleased to have Steve Kent, Director of the Environment for Cheshire West and Chester with us this evening and as the man responsible for the LTP in this area I know he will take on board this message.

CTC is keen to work with government as often as we can but you would expect us minister to be a vocal advocate for the cycling community and from time to time be critical, but always in a constructive positive way.

You refer minister to the new cycling demonstration towns and indeed as we said earlier Chester is a beneficiary of this scheme which has levered in over £7 million pounds for cycling development in this area alone.

But minister we want the cycling message to extend throughout the UK .Messages that are learned in specific areas must be rolled out quickly to highway authorities and health authorities throughout the country.

It’s good to have Phillip Darnton with us this evening because I know that as chair of Cycling England he understands the importance of taking the cycle message nationwide. Cycling Scotland will be doing the same as will I hope Wales and Northern Ireland.

Phillip I am excited by your ideas for Cycle Demonstration Train Companies, converting leisure cycling to shopping cycling and your proposed focus on NHS staff to act as role models for cycle commuting.

We need a culture change to create the real cycling renaissance. It can happen and I believe that it will. Breakthroughs suddenly happen – just look at how attitudes have changed concerning drink driving, seat belt wearing and smoking in public buildings. All ideas, long campaigned for that suddenly happened. I think it’s called reaching the tipping point, when things suddenly change and I think cycling is nearly there.

Promoting cycling is an extremely cost-effective way to achieve every single one of the headline goals of the Government’s emerging long-term transport strategy.

Minister you mention the wider benefits of cycling and to your list we would add supporting competitiveness and productivity, tackling climate change, boosting health, creating safer streets and safer communities, promoting equality of opportunity, improving the quality of life and the local environment. Cycling ticks every one of these boxes.

Increasing cycling is about changing hearts and minds. Cycling is not something to be terrified of, but is a safe, healthy and

enjoyable activity. Indeed something which can be done by anyone – old or young, male or female, athletic or seriously overweight – in normal clothes, whatever they feel comfortable wearing. “Normalising” cycling is vital to achieving substantial increases in cycle use,

Minister you refer to cycle training and I would like to thank you for the recognition of the work we have done in this area from

1936 to the present day. Indeed Bikeability has now started in this city and by 2010 will be available in all primary schools in

Cheshire West and Chester. This should be a route du passage for young people that sets them up to become every day cyclists.

We are excited by our training programme and of course we are delighted tonight with your announcement that we have been successful with our partners Continyou and UK Youth in securing funding to launch our Bike Club concept.

But of course minister our strength is our membership and the vast amount of volunteering that they undertake. We have a strong network of local member groups providing a range of

rides for cyclists of all abilities. We have 350 Right to Ride reps, who, usually working as individuals, present the case for cycling to local authorities, health authorities and government agencies. Tonight minister you will meet many of our award winners, our unsung heroes that we feel capture the spirit of

CTC and all that we stand for.

We have a network of trainers supported by 13 Cycling

Development Officers who are targeting groups where cycling levels are low – and you can imagine this covers a pretty wide range from women to ethnic minorities, from those with serious health issues to young people who do not feel it is cool to be seen on a bike.

We have a clear vision

CTC is committed to a vibrant and broad base that encompasses all sectors of cycling

A future in which CTC is an innovative, thriving organisation of cyclists and supporters working to promote cycling for all people

Cycling that is accessible and safe

Cycling that is enjoyable and functional;

Cycling that enriches lives and communities.

This evening, this dinner has not happened by chance.

Selecting a venue, coping with a room change, organising menus, trophies and seating plans would defeat most of us.

CTC’s Sue Cherry has risen to that challenge, indeed this is her eighth dinner. I am sure you would want to join me in thanking

Sue for the work she has done to make this dinner such a success.

Finally it is my really pleasant duty to thank Chester and North

Wales CTC, and particularly Mike Cross, for hosting this event.

It was Mike who lobbied me over a year ago to get the annual dinner in Chester. Everyone thinks that it’s here because this is my home. It’s here because of the persistence of Mike Cross.

I would like you now to raise your glasses and join me toasting the future success of Chester and North Wales CTC ...

Chester and North Wales CTC

"Socialism can only arrive by bicycle," said Jose Antonio Viera Gallo, a Chilean politician

Welcome to our minister for cycling, The Lord Mayor of Chester (almost his last function) and of course our new vice president Josie Dew and Philip Darnton the chair of Cycling England.

Line I have been working on for myself but one you could use as the link between main speech and toast to CNW CTC –

“Some of you may know that CTC’s immediate past President Phil Liggett got his fist job at Chester Zoo, just about the time that he started going cycling with the Merseyside CTC group who inspired him to cycle off into North Wales all day at the age of just 15. As you will know the cycling gave him a lot better career than the zoo- keeping. I hope that CTC will come back to Chester in 2039 for the centenary of the CNW CTC. And when we do some of the many people assembled on that day will have came across cycling as a young person through a Bike Club in Chester Cycling Town and through that programme they got a taste for cycling that will last them a lifetime, as cyclists, as volunteers, as campaigners, perhaps even politicians or gold medalists. But however they enjoy their cycling they will be carrying forward their knowledge as CNW CTC has done for the last 70 years”

If you don’t want to use it please let me know and I’ll fit it in somewhere