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Newry, Mourne and Down Council have agreed to identify and promote safer cycling initiatives across the district. Such a move is very welcome, with cycling increasing in popularity locally as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. There is still no connected cycling infrastructure in Newry, the districts only city.
The "Promotion of Safer Cycling" report was put forward at Yesterday's, 17 August Active and Healthy Communities meeting, by Health and Wellbeing Assistant Director, Eoin Devlin. The report which Councillors passed (subject to ratification at September full Council meeting) recommended that council officers will work with key partners including DFI officials, PHA, Schools and Sustrans, to identify appropriate initatives and funding opportunities to encourage an increase in cycling and promote safer cycling across the district.
The report noted that by increasing activity and reducing reliance on the private car, walking and cycling would contribute to sustainaility, cultivate better active travel habits, improve air quality and contribute to longer healthier lives.
The report also adds that from September Sustrans will be working with 17 schools locally as an extension of their active Schools Programme.
Travel Survey
Mr Devlin's report explained that the DFI's Travel Survey for NI reveals that an average person makes around 900 journeys every year with around one third of these two miles or shorter - "journeys that could and should be made by walking, cycling and public transport."
Promote Quickly
Proposing the adoption of the report Cllr David Taylor said "I'm very supportive of this. During Covid there has been many negatives and many impacts on the community but one of the positives is that people have embraced walking and cycling a lot more during this period, and we should be taking advantage of that in terms of developing these initiatives."
The Newry Councillor added "Anything we can do to promote, and promote as quick as we can we should do that"
Cycle to School
Cllr Barra O Muirí spoke at last nights meeting in his role as a school teacher and said that he would love his pupils to be able to cycle to school "I'd say I'm on this committee for the past five years and this comes up occasionally, the first year, third year, the fifth year. I'm just going to say the same thing I said the last day. Everybody's in favour of walking and everybody's in favour of cycling. As well as being a Councillor I'm a teacher. I would love it if all our pupils would be able to cycle to school. I'm a teacher in South Armagh. There's no cycle lanes, no walking lanes, there's barely footpaths in South Armagh but it's such a rural part of the district. If you take the road from Creggan to Crossmaglen, there's no footpath on it, no cycle path and I'm not giving out, I'm actively proposing that we all in AHC encourage incorporation of cycling paths and walking paths, cycling paths in this instance, in rural roads that lead to schools.
"Cycle paths are to be seen in Newry and probably to be seen in Downpatrick but our District is a very rural district. Cycle paths could be rolled out, a couple every year in a rural village, one is South Down, one in and around Newry, one in South Armagh, it would be a massive boost for this directorate.
Danger to Cyclists
Newry City Councillor, Charlie Casey said there was an issue with the visability of Newry cycle lanes "Barra said there cycle lanes are visible in Newry, they're not very visible. The Department hasn't put a lick of paint on them in maybe years and the majority of them, cars are parked, vans are parked, half on the footpath and half on the cycle lane. it's a danger to the cyclist and people with prams."
Cllr Casey added "Where we have a responsibility for keeping them clean especially the towpath and the greenway. You'll see it fairly often, people taking the initiative and cleaning themselves - the greenway, the towpath. I think our council needs to be a wee bit more proactive"
Speaking of proposed partnerships Cllr Casey concluded "I will wait with baited breath to see how the partnership works in getting these cycle trails up and running, especially the Department for Infrastructure."
Cllr Terry Andrews also stated his support "I think it's a brilliant initiative for everyone to get out walking and cycling. It's a good news story as well." with Councillor Gerry O'Hare adding that he was 100% behind it. Councillor John Treanor thought the PCSP would be useful to get involved "Maybe's there is a role with regards to the council and PCSP in encouraging safety for cyclists as they do with safety on the roads in general"
Another Bike for Charlie!
Following the passing of the report an official at the meeting noted the "Bike to Work" cycling scheme was opening up again next Monday for council employees remembering an earlier comment during the online Skype meeting when Cllr Casey explained that he had got a bike on the councils Bike to Work scheme but that it's parked in the shed for five years, which caused one Councillor to wittily remark "Another bike for Charlie"
2019 Council Motion
A council notice of motion by Councillor McMurray back in March 2019 led to the council recognising "the multiple health, environmental, social and economic benefits of cycling" At the time the motion was passed by council and committed to encouraging cycling within and between our towns through the re-designation of some pathways, safer cycling corridors within our towns and working with external organisations to encourage recreational participation and safety measures. The motion also noted a DFI study which showed "the excessively low numbers of children who cycle to school"
Over a year later and with everything in Newry orientated 100% towards cars, now is the perfect time for our council to put its recommendations into practice.
