Cycle Hayling update – June 2019

In this update:

  • Progress with the Saltmarsh Lane cycle path
  • Please help with our cycle-commuting survey
  • Family ride planned for 11th August
  • Feedback from the 10th May ride
  • Goodbye to the Hayling Islander

Progress with the Saltmarsh Lane cycle path

Wilf Forrow is leading a major effort to make this happen. We have a lot of goodwill from Havant and Hampshire although it can be difficult to get different bits of a council to agree with each other.

Wilf summarises the progress to date here.

Please help with our cycle-commuting survey

We are concious that our views on cycle-commuting on and off the Island are limited/dated and this was clear from the social ride last month.

We therefore want to hear more from you – and anyone else you know that could contribute – about: your experiences, what (if anything) holds you back, and advice you would give to people considering cycle-commuting. In fact, anything that would help us promote and support cycle-commuting.

We have therefore created a simple and very short survey to collect views. You can get to it at: cyclehayling.org/CSurvey. Please pass the link on to anyone else you think appropriate.

Family ride planned for 11th August

We are keen to involve all ages – from 3 to 103 – in our aim to create a more cycle-friendly island. With this in mind our next ride will be for all the family on Sunday, 11th August starting at 10am from the car park outside the station theatre. Put the date in your diary for you and your friends, your children and grandchildren. Hope to see you there. More details nearer the time.

Feedback from the 10th May ride

It was great to see so many of you on the ride on Friday 10th May. There were over 30 of us and it was really useful to talk about progress and plans for more cycle routes on the Island.

The weather was almost perfect for a ride – fine, and not too cold or windy. We rode along the seafront then detoured to Higworth Lane where committee members explained the options and problems with the route from there to St Mary’s church. One particular sticking point with the landowner, Parkdean is the barrier designed to keep motorbikes from using the park. This currently makes it difficult for cyclists but is not effective in preventing motorbikes.

We then continued via Saltmarsh Lane to Denhill Close where we have agreement and some funding to provide a route to the Billy trail. The options for surfaces were explained by the committee and the consensus from supporters was that we should have a long lasting surface that could be used at all times of the year whatever the weather.

After riding south on the Billy Trail and along Ferry Road the ride concluded at the Ferry Boat pub where we enjoyed a well deserved drink and continued our discussions.

Goodbye to the Hayling Islander

The July edition will be the last. We will miss it – especially as it has carried a regular Cycle Hayling column for some time now, and was a great help to the campaign to restore the Hayling Ferry.

Along with many other Hayling organisations, we are considering how best to communicate with Hayling Islanders in the future. In the meantime, Mike Skiffins – a friend of ours – continues to post a regular column in the POxx newspapers.

You can, of course, help by encouraging people to support us via cyclehayling.org/signup to get updates like this one.

Best regards, Wilf, Joy, Robert, Andy, Sue, Dave, Dave & Heather – the Cycle Hayling committee.