Cycling City? Not on our land

Thanks all who've (politely) emailed Bristol CC (Councillors and Officers).

There is more to this than might first appear, starting with Craig Denning / Dream CCs use of Hengrove but yes, extending to use of all the other parks in Bristol for CX (and there are lots - St Georges, Oldbury Ct, Conham Riverside Park, Purdown and Ashton Ct). All are currently in jeopardy. Negotiations continue between the Western League Organisers, the main promoting Club (Severn), BC and the Council.

I understand that part of the problem was that said Parks Manager googled 'cyclo cross' and ended up watching a Belgian vid which showed a crowd of 10,000+ watching a field of 100+ riding a completely chewed up course! (Oh we could wish for the same in Bristol but the reality is a maximum field of the normal 50-ish!).

I'm not riding at the moment as I'm injured but I've ridden Western League CX events for the last 20 years. At one point they nearly died out due to numbers (5 of us!) but like the rest of the UK they've been picking up in recent years and field sizes have been good.

As those who race CX will know, it's one of the most accessible 'fun' but 'serious' (Serious Fun?) forms of cycle-sport.

Let's hope we can resolve the current 'difficulties' in Bristol and get these venues back in the calendar

The local radio station interviewed me and series organiser Craig this morning, and also gave a response from the Council which mentions this here website! Which apparently is a "blog". From about 37 minutes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01063tx

A similar thing happened with Glasgow City Council two years ago that effectively stopped two very popular races in King's and Bellahouston Parks. I think they were asking for £10k.

I have also received the reply from Gary Hopkins.

My email to him was positive and constructive and I was pleased he took the time to respond.

However I have emailed Gary back to seek clarification about the bond requirement of £2500 which I think is the stumbling block.

Gary states that there is no ban on cycling, but by imposing the requirement for a £2500 bond the council is effectively preventing this type of low key, grass roots event from taking place.

I can understand a large scale event in a park (e.g. a circus, a balloon festival, etc) requiring such a bond. But it seems disproportionate for a low key cyclo-cross race.

Whilst a cyclo-cross race can cause some superficial damage, and it can look a bit bad the day after, this type of damage quickly recovers naturally. I would imagine the worst case scenario is the park keeper has to sprinkle a bit of grass seed in some places. But this is probably a common task in a well used park.

It would be good if a representative from British Cycling could get involved and talk directly to Gary Hopkins and the parks managers. I still think with a bit of consultation and cooperation a solution can be found.

It would set a bad precedent if a local council starts banning cyclo-cross races. It then gives an excuse to the neighbouring council to do the same. And then it is downhill......

Even if there's no outright ban (and if so, why was an event organiser told there was?) then there's something seriously remiss when an event attended by 50 or so people has to stump up a four-figure damage deposit.

Just recieved this from Gary Hopkins... It does seem that there's been some misunderstanding and/or a badly handled decision relating to a small number of events...

Dear all

I have received a number of e-mails of varying tones,varying from the ultra reasonable enquiry to the aggressively accusatory, regarding a report that has been passed out claiming that a ban has been put on cycling events in parks.
LET ME FIRSTLY BE CLEAR THAT NO SUCH BAN EXISTS and that in fact parks dept. are looking to develop further BMX facilities building on the success of fairly recently installed courses and that in general encouraging physical activities in parks is encouraged and is increasing.

I understand that there was some interaction between council officers in the events team and a club. Clearly any activity in a park,be it pop concert,fun day or sporting activity will have an effect upon the park and any group needs to take responsibility for any damage which could have a negative effect upon other users and contribute to the reinstatement costs.

This matter came up some months ago and I am surprised and disappointed that it has reemerged at this time. I trust that this is down to misunderstanding/miscommunication.I sincerely hope that nobody has been deliberately misled.

Gary Hopkins

My council park officer lets me use the town park every year for a New Year 'cross race. It's always wet and muddy (when it's not frozen) and we do make a bit of a mess of the park. However, after a good rain and a month or so, it's already started to heal and you'd not know it had happened. (I've some before/after pics if anyone needs - and it's never as bad as the mess after the summer agricultural fair...)

I got in touch with the Council to ask to use it after seeing the park criticised in the paper due to the football pitches always being waterlogged, or having poor quality turf. In contrast, we get 300 or so riders (from 6 to 70) from all over the north coming to race in the middle of winter, loving the park and being really positive about it. Can you imagine the organisation and mess that getting 300 footballers to turn up for one day of matches?

Contact details for those who want it

councillor for Parks and Open Spaces is Gary Hopkins, the Lib Dem councillor for Knowle:
Gary Hopkins
0117 922 2879
Gary.Hopkins [at] bristol.gov.uk

shocking decision. brainless.

So would it not be a good idea for someone to come up with a suitably worded proforma email that "we" can all send to Bristol City Council querying this position and even suggesting that if they carry on with this position that they should pay back the £11.4 million to Central Government for re-distribution to better placed councils to promote cycling??

That should get their collective attention....especially if it is publicised in the cycling press!

I have emailed Gary Hopkins and Tim Kent about this issue. Maybe some lobbying from the Bristol area cycling clubs can reverse the decision.

It could just an over cautious reaction to perceived damage to the parkland. If those involved can be persuaded otherwise then maybe they can reverse the decision or at least reach some compromise.

Hi Chuffy

You are correct. The best approach is via the responsible councillor, which for Parks and Open Spaces is Gary Hopkins.

http://www.bristol.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/council_and_demo...

Tim Kent has the cycling city brief so hopefully he would be a supportive voice on the council.

And yes it is important to establish the facts and reasons first and then try to get the relevant people on board. As Doc says, if you can convince/demonstrate that a cyclo-cross race is going to have minimal impact (and no long term damage) then they might be more supportive.

Hopefully it is not just a council employee acting on their own volition. There should be some council scrutiny of this decision somewhere?

The route most likely to get a response would be via councillors, preferably by residents covered by the council area. I had this issue some years ago, and was able to demonstrate by a previous example that even when an event was held in appalling conditions which left rutting and mud instead of grass, within 3-4 weeks it was just as if nothing had ever taken place.
Compared to the mudpies of the adjacant football pitches (goal areas a sea of mud), and rugby pitches (every scrum leaves the ground churned up), which were in weekly use, a cross was a zero damage option.
It's probably a case of education for the officer concerned, and having been to Hengrove Park (calling it a park is stretching a point!) it's not a place of beauty, but a good enough facility for basic level CX.

Ha, he was previously in pest control...for 25 years...

'Bristol City Council. Richard Bevan has relinquished his pest control activities and becomes manager for, parks estates, play, cemeteries and crematoria, although he is retaining chairmanship of the Western Pest Liaison Group and continuing as a member of NPAP. '

http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=778941368&targe...

From the Bristol Council Downs Report for Nov 19th 2012 ;

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/committee/2012/wa/wa017/1119_11.pdf

The Parks Manager is Richard Bevan
The Parks Operations Manager is Richard Stransom

Also there is a Bristol Parks Forum which is an independent group representing the community for park related matters.

http://www.bristolparksforum.org.uk

If it's anything like our local council, there may be a councillor that has control of leisure activities.
Either way, sounds like locals need to be talking to their local councillor to get something done - IME councillors can be pretty decent - they may even take a dim view of the change...

Craig Denning of Dream Cycling wrote:

"Eventually I was told that a decision had been made by the new manager of parks to suspend all cycling events on Bristol-City-owned sites."

So who is this new manager of parks? Name and shame them.

Does anyone know who this new "Manager of Parks" is - I couldn't see it on the councils website...