Cllr Roger Symonds has been appointed as Bath & North East
Somerset Council's Cycling Champion.
Champions for specific Council issues have become quite common
over the past few years and Bath & North East Somerset Council
has 10 Member Champions for Older People, Energy, Human Rights,
Heritage, Public Realm, Energy/Climate Change, Procurement,
Children, Vulnerable People, Regulatory Services and now
Cycling.
They are advocates for their area of interest and promote it
within the community. However, they have no decision-making
powers, are not paid and are not part of the Council
Administration.
Cllr Symonds began cycling again in 1988 when he developed
osteoarthritis in his left knee as a result of rugby
injuries. Since being elected to Bath City Council in 1991 he
has championed the interests of cyclists. He was Mayor of
Bath in 2004/05.
Cllr Symonds said: “I am very pleased to be chosen as the
Council’s first Cycling Champion. One of my first actions will be
to examine the Council’s Cycling Strategy to discover what progress
has been made towards achieving the targets set when the strategy
was put together in the 1990s. I am also developing a plan of
action. I would welcome ideas from the public and I hope that the
‘Cycling Summit, to be held at the Guildhall later this week,
Friday 19 June, might also identify some ideas. Please
contact me (see below) if you would like to contribute towards the
Plan.
"Some of my initial thoughts for the “Plan of Action”
include:
- I would like to see many more children riding to school in
safety - in the past the message going out to cyclists has been
“it is too dangerous to cycle on the roads”. I want to play a
part in changing the message to one of encouragement.“ Our
roads should be made safer to encourage more cyclists, especially
the young.
- I will call for better road surfaces for cyclists - some of
them are potential death traps with the number and severity of
potholes and repairs- the condition of some of our main
roads is not good enough. I will ask the council’s
highways team to ‘think bike’ whenever there are road improvements
or changes.
- I will be looking for places, where it is safe to do so, to
ask the Council to establish more ‘shared paths’ - like the one
between Saltford and Keynsham.
- I would like to see action taken to encourage First Group
and First Great Western to show more consideration to cyclists on
their buses and trains - with the loss of the ramp at Bath Spa
station I will be trying to find out what steps Network Rail are
taking to avoid the jam of people, bikes and luggage trying to get
through narrow turnstiles.
- We should aspire to the cycling culture of our twin
city of Alkmaar, in the Netherlands - we should look at some of
the ways that they promote cycling. I believe we can make
great improvements with a great deal of commitment and a little
funding."
If you would like to make your views known to Cllr Symonds
please e-mail: mail@rogersymonds.org.uk,
visit www.combedown.mycouncillor.org.uk
or call 01225 832 144.
