MCC meetings during Corona Virus

During the Corona Virus Pandemic we're continuing to meet virtually on the first Thursday of the month at 8pm. We're hosting our meetings via Zoom, and you would be very welcome to join us, even if you haven't previously made it along to a meeting. 

MCC's Response to the Climate Emergency

The climate emergency requires us to act now, and we welcome Merton Council committing to making Merton carbon neutral by 2050. However, transport emissions have remained stubbornly high and must be reduced to tackle the Climate Crisis. Cycling is fast, cheap and is a near-zero-carbon alternative for many journeys but is unattractive to many potential users due to poor-quality infrastructure. Experience in Continental Europe is that cycling modal share is directly related to quality of cycle infrastructure. 

Whilst public transport and electrical vehicles (EV’s) have a part to play in decarbonization, it is difficult to imagine a credible climate action plan without a prominent role for cycling, as increasing cycling modal share is the quickest and cheapest way to decarbonize.  We have produced A Response to the Climate Emergency and submitted it to Merton Council’s Climate Emergency Working Group with both short and long term measures that we believe any credible response to the Climate Emergency Action Plan should incorporate and cycling is a key element of this. 

LIP Service?

To most people ‘lips’ are those bodily elements that crack open for a good laugh, but in the singular the LIP has quite serious connotations, particularly for those who cycle or fancy cycling - and especially those think that encouraging more people to cycle is crucial to taking action to tackle the climate emergency.

Merton Council’s ‘Local Implementation Plan’ sets out how the Council hopes to satisfy London’s Mayoral Transport Strategy in order that, the keeper of the purse, Transport for London (TfL), can cough up the cash for cycling infrastructure.

The London Borough of Merton’s LIP follows the Mayor’s advice in proposing a local cycle infrastructure plan and it picks up those Strategic areas and corridors currently prioritised for TfL funding. The extent of Merton’s cycling infrastructure plan means that, if implemented, everyone can have reasonable access to a satisfactory cycle route. An essential provision in zero emissions initiatives.

The problem is that the first financial year of LIP action (2019-2020) has, thus far, produced little in results. Nine of Merton's ten proposed actions have yet to show signs of any action at all.

Raleigh Mustang e-Comp review

Mark continues our sporadic 'Best Loved Kit' series with a review of the Raleigh Mustang e-Comp. 

For some time, I had been considering going over to the “Dark Side,”....ie getting an e-bike. Much as I love cycling, I tend only to ride on flat routes, as climbing just makes me depressed about how unfit/weak I am. Way back in 2008, I had a cerebellar stroke, although I recovered, it knocked the stuffing out of me. My once powerful leg muscles are now soft and jelly like, the guy who used to ride 44x17 fixed on club rides, and push new riders up steep hills has long gone....going out on a beginners group ride a couple of years ago, I watched guys 10 years older than me, and beginner ladies pedal merrily away uphill chatting to each other, as I coughed wheezed and searched for my lowest crawler gear. 

Support Richard's fundraising for cycle parking at St Raphael's hospice

Long-standing MCC member Richard is fundraising to install high quality, covered and secure cycle parking for staff and visitors at St Raphael's Hospice in Sutton (SW London), following the death of his dear cycle campaign friend Ceri Davies recently died there. At his final visit they together lamented that there was nowhere for him to his bike!

Ceri’s RideLondon Team offer - £20 entry fee; raise £400 for a local hospice

MCC activist, former newsletter editor and author Ceridwen Davies, recently died of cancer, aged just 63, at St Raphael’s Hospice in Sutton.  She was one of our longest serving members, a regular attendee at MCC meetings since the early 90’s where her energetic sense of fun infected us all. 

Response to LB Merton’s LIP3 Consultation

Merton Council have been consulting on their Third Local Implementation Plan (LIP3). It is a statutory requirement for all London boroughs to develop a document setting out how it is going to deliver the Mayor's Transport Strategy, its priorities and objectives at a local level.

LIP3 is the Council's main transport strategy and sits alongside the Council's Local Plan and other future strategies. It should set out the borough transport objectives; a short and longer term delivery plan and a series of targets set by Transport for London that we are working towards achieving

In March 2018 the Mayor of London released his vision for the future of transport in the Capital called the Mayor's Transport Strategy. It sets out three priority areas for delivery; these are:-

• Healthy streets and healthy people
• A good public transport experience
• New homes and jobs

It also set an ambitious target for 80% of all trips in London to be made on foot, by cycle or/and using public transport by 2041.