Author: Andy Henderson

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Fun at the three churches fete

We had good weather and a great turn-out at the three churches fete.

Luke Coates at the three churches fete
Luke Coates – one of our turbo challengers being timed by Joy Forrow

The Cycle Hayling stand got loads of visitors and contestants for our ‘turbo challenge’. This year we had two bikes running simultaneously: one for adults and one for youngsters.

The early pace was set by the girls who dominated the leader board for the first hour, or so. The boys rose to the challenge and in the end the honours were split pretty evenly. The top girl managed to cycle 510 metres in a minute, the top boy managed 550 metres. That’s an average speed of 19 miles per hour and 21 miles per hour respectively! Truly impressive on a turbo trainer using a less-than-ideal bike.

Continue reading “Fun at the three churches fete”

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Money for local cycle projects!

The Government has announced “A nationwide drive to promote cycling in cities and national parks across England”.

This includes money specifically for cycle projects in the New Forest and South Downs national parks. See the announcement page for more detail.

We understand that the approved projects include a cycle path through the Butser cutting. Some of you might have signed the petition organised by Cycle Hayling committee member Robert Sebley. Robert worked closely with Mike Ashton of Portsmouth CTC who worked on the bid. Our congratulations to Mike, Robert and everyone involved in this bid – it’s been a lot of work over several years!

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Safe cycle routes to schools update – August 2013

We recently updated the safe cycle routes to schools project page.

This note provides an update on each of the routes we are working on:

Footpath 88 (the Cinder Track)

Shown as route 1 on the map below.

Route now open. Hampshire County Council completed it in spring 2013. All feedback has been positive, which is very encouraging, especially as Hayling residents are renowned for voicing concerns!

Footpath 102 - Beech Grove to Salterns Lane

Shown as route 2 on the map below.

The landowner has given approval for a permissive route, but a “pinch point” is the main factor preventing go-ahead from Hampshire County Council. Cycle Hayling is discussing alternative options with HCC (e.g. short “dismount” section).

Footpath 89 - Higworth Lane to Church Road

Shown as route 3 on the map below.

The land is owned by Parkdean Holiday Park. The site manager has given agreement to the path, but we are awaiting final go-ahead from the chief executive. Havant Borough Council is hoping to implement this route in 2014 if funds allow.

North-south off-road cycle route

Shown as route 4 on the map below.

The landowner of southern section has given agreement.

The northern section still requires approval from Registered Riders Scheme (RRS) and relevant landowners. The RRS are unwilling to share this limited section of their existing routes. Having tried for some time, we have finally managed to open discussions with the RRS, but it is clear there is considerable opposition from RRS leaders to sharing the footpath. We are trying to address their concerns, because this appears to be the only feasible option for providing a safe north-south link. Havant Borough Council shares this view.

Link from footpath 88 to the Mill Rythe Campus

Shown as route 5 on the map below.

The main landowner (Hayling Island Builders Ltd) has given formal agreement to the link, provided they don’t incur any cost. The land is currently leased to A.D. Walter Ltd (a farm), which has been contacted by Cycle Hayling.

Active involvement by both Mill Rythe Headteachers and the Hampshire County Council Travel Team, which has adopted the project.

Site visit already carried out by Hants Principal Engineer. Feasibility study by Hampshire County Council will begin once legal clearance has been obtained.

£10k is potentially available for this project from Living Streets to spend straight away. Total cost may be more than £10k however, so we may need additional funding from Havant Borough Council.

Map showing all the routes

This map shows all the above routes and how they link the schools together. Click the image to see more detail.

Map showing proposed safe cycle routes

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Cycle Hayling supports motorists!

As part of work to establish safe cycle routes to schools Dave Mowatt is helping the Hayling Island schools and the Hampshire Travel Team explore options to set up a ‘Park and Stride’ scheme. This would allow parents to park in some of the Island’s car parks with easy walking to school.

If established, the scheme would reduce congestion at school times and increase safety for children walking or cycling to school.

We hope to see a trial scheme started early in the new school year.

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Billy Trail treasure hunt update

Sorry, we managed to confuse our web site. If you came here to download the Billy Trail Treasure Hunt, or to get model answers, please use this link to go to the page you wanted. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

We launched the treasure hunt over the week-end of 6/7 July to support the other Hayling Billy 50 commemoration events taking place on the same day.

We handed out treasure hunts at the south end of the Billy Trail and in East street in Havant.

Continue reading “Billy Trail treasure hunt update”

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New money for Hayling’s leisure trails

We initially heard from Andy Leneghan that the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) had allocated £60K to improve access to leisure trails.

We’ve done some digging and Havant has confirmed that:

“£60,000 capital funding has been allocated to Havant Borough Council (HBC) by PUSH to improve access and connectivity to green infrastructure on Hayling Island through enhancements to the Billy Trail and the Seafront footpath/cycleway. HBC and Hampshire County Council will contribute S106 funding to match the PUSH grant which is to be spent on resurfacing work and provision of signage for both trails, including restoration of the old Billy Line signal arm. The work will be carried out during autumn/winter 2013/14 so it will be completed for Spring 2014.”

We’ll publish more details as we learn them.

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51 reasons to travel by bike

Mengham Junior School pupils took part in a “Cycle Quiz” to think of as many good reasons as possible for traveling by bicycle. They came up with a fabulous total of 51 reasons why. Take a look at the list below, and if you can come up with any more good reasons, why don’t you tell Cycle Hayling about them? Just email them to sue@cyclehayling.org, and if they’re good reasons for travelling by bicycle, they will be added to the list! Continue reading “51 reasons to travel by bike”